s 



Gray's prediction model might reveal clues 

 to why six hurricanes slammed into North 

 Carolina in 13 months. 



"But people should remember, in 

 meteorology ... you're rarely going to get 

 anything that's exact," Pelissier says. 



Here's a rundown of the six storms 

 and the damage they caused: 



Carol — Hurricane Carol fanned in 

 the Bahamas on Aug. 26, 1954 and 

 brushed North Carolina just east of Cape 

 Hatteras about 10 p.m. Aug. 30. Because 

 the beaches were on the west side of the 

 storm's counterclockwise winds, damage 

 was not severe. Some crops were de- 

 stroyed, and some houses and fishing piers 

 were damaged. 



At Cape Hatteras, where winds were 

 measured at 90 to 100 mph, about 1,000 

 feet of highway was undermined. Folks 

 along the Outer Banks cringed with 



empathy when they learned the next day 

 that Carol had made landfall in the New 

 England states, causing costly destruction 

 and killing 60 people. 



Edna — Only 15 days after the brush 

 with Carol, Outer Bankers were told that 

 yet another hurricane, this one named 

 Edna, was traveling their way. Residents 

 braced themselves again, but again they 

 were spared as the great storm passed 

 about 60 miles east of Cape Hatteras in the 

 Atlantic. On Sept. 10, winds of about 70 

 mph were recorded at Cape Hatteras. 

 Some crops were damaged, some piers 

 were slapped, and a little more of the 

 Outer Banks highway washed out. Again, 

 New Englanders bore the major brunt of 

 this hurricane. 



Hazel — On Oct. 15, 1954, a storm 

 unlike any other struck the North Carolina 

 coast with a ferocity not seen before or 



since. Her name was Hazel, and even to 

 mention her sends chills down the spines 

 of those who survived her wrath. 



The Caribbean Sea gave birth to 

 Hazel in early October. In her 13-day life, 

 she caused widespread damage from Haiti 

 to Canada. In North Carolina, she created 

 $100 million in damage (think what that 

 would be in 1991 dollars), killed 19 people 

 and injured 200 others. At least 30 Tar 

 Heel counties reported damage to 

 buildings. 



Hazel struck the North Carolina coast 

 near Shallotte around 10 p.m. on the 15th 

 with sustained winds as high as 150 mph. 



The following is excerpted from a 

 report written last year by James D. 

 Stevenson of the National Weather Service 

 in Wilmington: 'Wind-driven tides 



Continued on the next page 



on or near the North Carolina coast, leaving death and destruction in their wakes... 



COASTVC'ATCH 7 



