Storm Activity: 09/07/1999 – 09/19/1999
Source:  http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/1990s/floyd/

Early, on September 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall in Cape Fear, North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane moving at 27.8 km/h (17.3 mph) with winds estimated at 166 km/h (103.7 mph). Pushed along by a low-pressure front moving across the U.S. from the southwest, Hurricane Floyd quickly passed through the state. By late morning on 16 September, Floyd’s eye passed over eastern North Carolina and then over Norfolk, VA. After crossing over North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, Floyd briefly re-entered the western Atlantic Ocean before reaching Long Island on the 17 of September as a tropical storm. It was the second hurricane to have hit NC in less than one month, with Hurricane Dennis arriving just 10 days earlier.

Hurricane Floyd caused a disastrous flood event in the eastern United States, particularly in North Carolina. In total, eastern North Carolina received between 381-508 millimeters (15-20 inches) of rain, with Wilmington, NC reportedly receiving 483 millimeters (19 inches) throughout the duration of the storm, including a record 381 millimeters (15 inches) in a 24-hour period. These cumulative levels of rainfall put 14 regions in North Carolina at their 500-year flood levels.

Hurricane Floyd Newspaper Archives