A list of the most destructive hurricanes in North Carolina history

Thursday, October 15, 2020
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Here are the six most destructive hurricanes ever to hit North Carolina:

6. Hurricane Diana



Date: September 13, 1984
Landfall: Cape Fear, North Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 2
Main impact: Flooding
Highest rainfall total: Duplin County, 14 inches
Highest wind gust: Oak Island, 115 mph
Damage estimates: $65.5 million dollars (1984 USD)
Deaths: 0 (3 indirectly)

5. Hurricane Matthew


Date: October 8, 2016
Landfall: McClellanville, South Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 1
Main impact: Flooding
Highest rainfall total: Evergreen, 18.95 inches
Highest wind gust: Nags Head, 97 mph
Damage estimates: $10.3 billion total, $1.5 billion NC
Deaths: 29 total, 25 in North Carolina

4. Hurricane Floyd



Date: September 16, 1999
Landfall: Cape Fear, North Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 2
Main impact: Flooding
Highest rainfall total: Southport, 24.06 inches
Highest wind gust: Wrightsville Beach, 138 mph
Damage estimates: $6.5 billion (1999 USD)
Deaths: 57 total, 36 in North Carolina

3. Hurricane Fran


Date: September 5, 1996
Landfall: Cape Fear, North Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 3
Main impacts: storm surge, wind damage
Highest rainfall total: Southport, 24.06 inches
Highest wind gust: Wilmington, 137 mph
Damage estimates: $4.16 billion (1996 USD)
Deaths: 26 total, 14 in North Carolina

2. Hurricane Florence


Date: September 14, 2018
Landfall: Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 1
Main impacts: Flooding, storm surge
Highest rainfall total: Elizabethtown, 35.93 inches
Highest wind gust: Cape Lookout, 106 mph
Damage estimates: $25 billion total, $22 billion in NC
Deaths: 22 total, 15 in North Carolina (25 more indirect deaths in NC)

1. Hurricane Hazel


Date: October 15, 1954
Landfall: Calabash, North Carolina
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale: Category 4
Main impacts: wind, flooding, storm surge
Highest rainfall total: Robbins, 11.3 inches
Highest wind gust: Cape Lookout, 106 mph
Damage estimates: $308 million (1954 USD)
Deaths: 95 total, 19 in North Carolina
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