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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />On September 15 and 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd struck the coast of North Carolina near Cape Fear, It moved <br />north through the state, crC'dting "idesprC'dd inland flooding and coastal damage that led to the loss of life, <br />destruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure, loss of livestock and crops, and a disruption of <br />commerce. <br /> <br />The scope of the flooding was unprecedented. Sixty-seven counties sustained damages, "ith the most <br />significant losses occurring in the economically distressed counties in C'dstern Xorth Carolina, Scores of <br />communities were inundated - Princelille, Greenville, Tarboro, Kinston, Rocky Mount, and other:;. <br /> <br />Hurricane Floyd was the latest in a slring of natural disaster:; to strike the state of :>Iorth Carolina, Since <br />1995, six hurricanes and two major ice storms have impacted the state, causing billions of dollars in <br />damages as well as economic and emironmentallosses. Every Sl'Ctor of society and every sector of North <br />Carolina's economy has been directly or indirectly impacted by natural disasters in the past five years, <br /> <br />A STATE IN TRANSITION <br /> <br />:>Iatural disasters have left a profound imprint on North Carolina, A combination of factors have changed the <br />way communities view natural hazards: <br /> <br />. The personal experience of social and economic disruption from natuml disasters. <br />Virtually l'Very county in North Carolina has experienced the effects of natural hazards <br />in the past five YC'MS - from the ice slorms and flash flooding in the western counties to <br />the flooding, storm surge, coastal erosion and environmental pollution that have <br />occurred in the rest of the state as a result of major hurricanes, <br />