-Fred

Floyd tracked well to the west of Providence, with the center moving over Central CT and MA. That track put RI and SE MA on the windy, but drier, side of the storm. The wind gusted to 60 mph Thursday evening at the New Bedford hurricane barrier. The strongest wind came shortly after midnight with the following gusts reported:

• 76 mph – New Bedford Hurricane Barrier
• 72 mph – Brewster, MA
• 71 mph – Barnstable

The storm also brought in a small storm surge. This is straight from the National Weather Service storm report:

MAXIMUM STORM SURGE AT NOS SITES..
          PROVIDENCE 3.7 FT AT 0206 UTC 9/17
          NEWPORT    2.6 FT AT 0136 UTC 9/17
          NANTUCKET  1.3 FT AT 0312 UTC 9/17
          BOSTON     1.6 FT AT 2100 UTC 9/16
     MAXIMUM STORM SURGE AT OTHER LOCATIONS..
          FOX POINT HURRICANE BARRIER    4.2 FT (0215 - 0345 UTC 9/17)
          NEW BEDFORD HURRICANE BARRIER  2.5 FT (0200 UTC 9/17)

You may remember one of the big news stories was about the generator at Rhode Island Hospital failing to turn on after commercial power was lost. As a result, a man died after his breathing apparatus failed.

On a national level, Floyd was a very big deal. The storm made landfall on the East Coast near Wilmington, NC. Although Floyd was once a 155 mph monster, it made landfall as a borderline category one storm. Max gusts were about 120 mph at the time of landfall, and the storm surge was near 10 ft. in a few spots along the North Carolina coast.

Floyd’s greatest legacy is the torrential rain and severe flooding that occurred just to the west of the storm’s track.

Floyd was responsible for 56 deaths – 55 of them in the United States. 48 of the people died as a result of freshwater flooding due to the heavy rain west of the storm’s track.

Here is a recap of the storm and its impacts.

Tropical Storm Floyd was the first tropical storm that I covered on television. I spent much of the day Thursday in Narragansett interviewing all the people who came to see the huge surf and outer rain bands moving in during the afternoon. I also did some work on storm preparation. I was back on the air Friday morning with live reports from the hurricane barrier in New Bedford.