# 6358
Hurricane Agnes, which made landfall in Florida’s panhandle as a category 1 storm in 1972, would scarcely be remembered today were it not for the 12 to 18 inches of rain it dumped across Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia almost a week later.
Amazingly, of the 122 deaths associated with this storm, only 9 occurred in Florida where Agnes made landfall. The rest - 113 fatalities - were caused by inland fresh water flooding, with New York and Pennsylvania suffering the highest loses.
NOAA describes the flooding damage this way:
Hurricane Agnes was the costliest natural disaster in the United States at that time. Damage was estimated at $3.1 billion and 117 deaths were reported. Hardest hit was Pennsylvania, with $2.1 billion in damages and 48 deaths, making Hurricane Agnes the worst natural disaster ever to hit the state. The damage over Pennsylvania was so extreme, the entire state was declared a disaster area by President Richard Nixon.
While we tend to concern ourselves most over the rare CATEGORY 5 storm (like Andrew in 1992 or Camille in 1969), it is often the slow moving minimal hurricane or tropical storm that produces extensive damage hundreds . . . sometimes more than 1000 miles inland.
Other storms with far-reaching impact include:
- Hurricane Hazel, which had already devastated Haiti (400-1000 deaths) came ashore on the North-South Carolina border in August of 1954. She claimed 95 lives in the United States and was responsible for as many as 100 deaths in Canada.
- The CAT 5 monster Camille, which claimed 143 lives along the Gulf coast also killed 113 people in associated flooding in Virginia.
- And Audrey, the horrific `surprise’ gulf coast CAT 4 storm of 1957 -that claimed more than 550 lives - at least 15 of those victims were in Canada.
Which is why today’s focus in NOAA’s National Hurricane Preparedness Week is inland flooding.
A graphics used in this video is one I’ve featured before, showing that the majority of hurricane related deaths between 1970 and 1999 were due to fresh water drowning.
For more on this week’s preparedness campaign, click on the graphic below, and watch the videos on USWEATHERGOV’s Youtube Channel.
And to become better prepared as an individual, family, business owner, or community to deal with hurricanes, or any other type of disaster: visit the following preparedness sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
