Contact:  Robert Chartuk                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                             7/24/98

With the hurricane season underway, the National Weather Service reminds people living hundreds of miles from the coast that dying hurricanes and tropical storms may still bring heavy rain, high winds, lightning, and severe flooding to their area.

"Taking our cue from history, the National Weather Service urges everyone to be prepared for tropical events and not be lulled into complacency because they live away from the coast," said Sol Summer, chief hydrologist for the NWS Eastern Region.

"Our nation has a long history of destruction caused by dying hurricanes and tropical depressions," Summer noted. "From the Appalachians to Green Mountains of Vermont to the Passaic, Susquehanna, and Hudson River Basins, inland areas have suffered record flooding and other damage from tropical events."

The first such event of the 20th Century occurred in 1903 as the remains of a hurricane dropped up to 15 inches of rain over the Passaic River Basin in New Jersey to set a flood record that stands today. "Bridges, dams, and whole towns were washed away in the flooding which caused $7 million in damage, a hefty sum in 1903 dollars," Summer said. "Now that these areas have experienced a many fold increase in development, a similar storm could cause catastrophic losses."

In 1927, the remnants of a hurricane dumped upwards of nine inches of rain over New England and New York triggering floods that destroyed retaining walls, road embankments, buildings, and farms. Residents were taken by surprise when rivers and streams rose rapidly during the evening hours. Eighty-four lives were lost in Vermont alone and property losses were conservatively estimated at the time at $40 million.

"When people think of the Great Hurricane of 1938," Summer continued, "most have images of coastal damage on Long Island and New England. But when the storm moved inland, across the Hudson Basin toward Lake Champlain and finally into Canada, it left behind a devastated countryside."

Over a four-day period, the 1938 storm dropped an average of 11 inches of rain over a 10,000-square-mile area. The ensuing wave of floods inflicted major damage through Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont killing 500 people and causing more than $300 million in losses.

A hurricane in 1940 caused flooding on the Roanoke River which exceeded records that started in the early 1600's. Striking the Atlantic coast between Beaufort, S.C. and Savannah, Ga., the storm left a wake of destruction as it circled through Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and back out to sea through Norfolk, Va.

Within a week of each other in 1955, sister hurricanes Connie and Diane inundated a 200-mile-wide band inland from North Carolina to Massachusetts with record flooding and claimed 200 lives. Similarly, Agnes in 1972 caused $3.2 billion in property damage as she roared out of the Gulf of Mexico and crossed every state from Florida to New York .

"Other storms such as Camille in 1969, 1994's Alberto, and Fran in 1996 left similar paths of inland destruction," Summer said.

He concluded, "While storms of the past may have caught people unaware, this would certainly not be the case in modern times. Today, the National Weather Service has satellites, Doppler radar, and storm chasing aircraft to track a hurricane's every move. We just hope that people heed our warnings and are prepared to take appropriate action."