September 18, 2003 - Hurricane Isabel

PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT...HURRICANE ISABEL (CORRECTED) 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
240 PM EDT WED SEP 24 2003
CORRECTED PERRYTOWN RAINFALL AMOUNT FROM 6.23 INCHES TO 5.23 INCHES.


A 10.5 FOOT STORM SURGE WAS ADDED FOR CRAVEN COUNTY BETWEEN CLUBFOOT
CREEK AND ADAMS CREEK.


WORDING WAS CHANGED SLIGHTLY DESCRIBING PIER DAMAGE...AND THE WIDTH
OF THE NEW INLET WAS DELETED.



HURRICANE ISABEL MADE LANDFALL DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON OF 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 BETWEEN CAPE LOOKOUT AND OCRACOKE INLET NEAR
CEDAR ISLAND. ISABEL MADE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE
WITH SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR 100 MPH.  HURRICANE ISABEL MOVED  
NORTHWEST NEAR 20 MPH ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE 
AFTERNOON HOURS. HIGHEST WINDS AND LOWEST PRESSURES ARE INDICATED 
FOR THIS DATE. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES AND ACTUAL STORM TOTAL 
RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM 9/17 THROUGH 9/18. 


A. HIGHEST WINDS


LOCATION. TWO MINUTE SPEED(MPH). PEAK GUST. TIME(EDT)


FRYING PAN      FPSN7   69  85  1449 (09/18/03)
CAPE LOOKOUT    CLKN7   56  87  1223 (09/18/03)
DUCK            DUCN7   69  92  1626 (09/18/03)
CHERRY POINT    NKT     33  71  1418 (09/18/03)        
MANTEO          MQI     51  78  1443 (09/18/03)
NEW BERN        EWN     37  58  1208 (09/18/03) OTS DURING PEAK OF STORM
GREENVILLE      PGV     39  51  1455 (09/18/03)  
NEW RIVER MCAS  NCA     45  64  1156 (09/18/03)  
WASHINGTON      OCW     43  56  1403 (09/18/03) 
NEWPORT         MHX     XX  53  1400 (09/18/03) 
    

OTHER MEASURED PEAK GUST REPORTS(MPH). TIME(EDT)  


OCRACOKE                   105  1145 (09/18/03)
HARKERS ISLAND BRIDGE       98  1030 (09/18/03)
CAPE HATTERAS PIER          96  1146 (09/18/03) 
PLYMOUTH                    95  1405 (09/18/03) 
CEDAR ISLAND                86  1040 (09/18/03)
TRENTON                     80  1512 (09/18/03)
                 
B. LOWEST PRESSURE... 


LOCATION. ID. PRESSURE(INCHES). TIME(EDT)


DUCK            DUCN7   29.07  1500 (09/18/03)
FRYING PAN      FPSN7   29.33  1300 (09/18/03)
CAPE LOOKOUT    CLKN7   28.49  1200 (09/18/03) 
WASHINGTON      OCW     28.45  1544 (09/18/03)
CHERRY POINT    NKT     28.59  1440 (09/18/03)
NEWPORT         MHX     28.61  1330 (09/18/03)
NEW RIVER       NCA     28.99  1356 (09/18/03)
MANTEO          MQI     29.01  1343 (09/18/03)
            
C. RAINFALL... 


LOCATION. ID. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL(INCHES)

HAVELOCK               6.05
NEWPORT       MHX      5.87
GREENVILLE    GREN7    5.75
CHERRY POINT  NKT      5.24
PERRYTOWN     PYTN7    5.23
WILLIAMSTON   WLLN7    3.45
KINSTON       KNNN7    3.02
JACKSONVILLE  JEON7    2.42
NEW RIVER     NCA      2.02 
DUCK COE PIER          4.72 

D. STORM TIDES

THE HIGHEST STORM TIDES OCCURRED ACROSS THE LOWER REACHES 
OF THE NEUSE AND PAMLICO RIVERS WHERE WATERS LEVELS ROSE FROM 6 TO
10.5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. ON THE NEUSE RIVER THE HIGHEST SURGE WAS
BETWEEN CLUBFOOT CREEK AND ADAMS CREEK WHERE THE WATER ROSE TO 10.5
FEET ABOVCE NORMAL. CLUBFOOT CREEK ROSE TO 9.5 FEET, 1.5 FEET HIGHER
THAN DURING HURRICANE DENNIS IN 1999. SIGNIFICANT FLOODING WAS 
REPORTED IN THE HARLOWE AREA IN CRAVEN COUNTY, AND IN THE TOWN OF
ORIENTAL IN EASTERN PAMLICO COUNTY. WATER LEVELS ROSE BETWEEN 6 AND
7 FEET ON THE PAMLICO RIVER WITH FLOODING IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.
STORM TIDES OF 6 TO 8 FEET OCCURRED ALONG THE OUTER BANKS WITH MAJOR 
OCEAN OVERWASH.  FLOODING ON OCRACOKE WAS SIGNIFICANT WITH WAIST 
HIGH WATER IN MANY AREAS AT THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM. 

E. BEACH EROSION

MAJOR OCEAN OVERWASH AND BEACH EROSION  DUE TO STORM SURGE AND 
BATTERING WAVE ACTION OCCURRED ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS OF NORTH 
CAROLINA.  PIERS WERE DESTROYED OR SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE IN NAGS 
HEAD...RODANTHE...AND FRISCO.  MOTELS IN HATTERAS VILLAGE WERE MOVED 
OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS AS WELL AS SOME HOMES. A NEW INLET WAS CARVED
BETWEEN FRISCO AND HATTERAS VILLAGE ALONG HIGHWAY 12. IN 
ADDITION...MANY SECTIONS OF HIGHWAY 12 WERE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN 
WASHED OUT OR COVERED WITH DEBRIS SOUTHWARD TO OCRACOKE. FIFTEEN 
FOOT STRETCHES OF PAVEMENT ON BOTH SIDES OF A BRIDGE NEAR OCRACOKE 
WERE WASHED AWAY. ALSO...A BEACH ACCESS RAMP WAS COMPLETELY 
DESTROYED.   

F. FLOODING AND/OR FLASH FLOODING 

OUTER RAINBANDS OF HURRICANE ISABEL BEGAN AFFECTING EASTERN NORTH 
CAROLINA DURING THE NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 17TH.  HEAVY RAINFALL 
OCCURRED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON ON SEPTEMBER 18TH AS THE STORM MOVED 
ACROSS EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. DOPPLER RADAR STORM TOTAL ESTIMATES 
INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF 4 TO 7 INCH RAINFALL AMOUNTS. THE HEAVIEST 
RAINFALL OCCURRED IN CRAVEN...CARTERET...PAMLICO...HYDE... 
WASHINGTON...AND PITT COUNTIES. FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR 
FOUR OF THESE COUNTIES ON SEPTEMBER 18TH WITH FLOODING OF STREETS 
AND LOW LYING AREAS REPORTED. 

G. TORNADOES

NO TORNADOES WERE REPORTED IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

H. PRELIMINARY STORM EFFECTS

STORM SURGE AND WIND CAUSED THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ACROSS 
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA...ESPECIALLY ON THE OUTER BANKS. ASSESSMENTS 
ARE ON GOING...CONSEQUENTLY...ONLY GENERAL INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE 
AT THIS TIME. NO DIRECT STORM RELATED FATALITIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED 
IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. ONE PERSON WAS KILLED TRYING TO RESTORE 
ELECTRICITY IN CARTERET COUNTY. STORM SURGE AND BEACH EROSION 
EFFECTS HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANT IN OUTER BANKS DARE AND HYDE COUNTIES. 
WIND AND WATER DAMAGE WAS EXTENSIVE ACROSS THE OUTER BANKS WITH WIND 
GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 100 MPH. THREE PIERS WERE DESTROYED.
APPROXIMATELY 30 TO 40 HOMES ON THE OUTER BANKS HAVE BEEN 
KNOCKED OFF THEIR PILINGS. SIGNIFICANT WATER LEVEL RISES ON THE 
NEUSE AND PAMLICO RIVERS HAVE RESULTED IN FLOODING OF MANY HOMES 
ACROSS CRAVEN...EASTERN CARTERET...AND EASTERN PAMLICO COUNTIES. 
WINDS IN EXCESS OF HURRICANE FORCE RESULTED IN NUMEROUS TRESS AND 
POWER LINES DOWN WITH LOSS OF ELECTRICITY TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS 
OF PEOPLE OVER EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.    
      
KRIEHN