The Effects of Hurricane Florence

The Carolinas - Hurricane Florence has dominated the news lately as people braced for the powerful hurricane that was projected to hit the Carolinas as a Category 4. Well, Hurricane Florence came and went, leaving extensive damage in its wake.The storm featured top wind speeds of 130 miles per hour. Early estimates predict that the Hurricane caused 22 billion dollars in damage. That makes Florence one of the most costly hurricanes in U.S. History.

Hurricane Florence has claimed the lives of 49 people across multiple states. North Carolina got the worst with 38 reported deaths. About 1500 people are still living in shelters because of the Hurricane. Even almost two weeks after Florence hit, parts of South Carolina are still flooding, but for the most part, the danger has passed and efforts have already began to fix damages. Personally, I know that my church is using part of the weekly offering to help Hurricane victims, and I’m sure many other churches and and organizations are doing the same. Fortunately, citizens of North Carolina had plenty of warning before the storm hit, and more than one million people were ordered to evacuate.

My Aunt, Uncle, and cousins all live on Daniel Island in South Carolina. Daniel Island is only a couple miles from Charleston, South Carolina. Although they weren’t supposed to take a direct hit, they were still bracing for a bad storm. When I asked my Aunt how bad they were hit, she said “We had a little bit of wind and rain, but we weren’t hit nearly as bad as the Myrtle Beach area and North Carolina” She went on to tell me that students attending Coastal Carolina University still were not back into their dorms yet. Unfortunately for North Carolina, their problems don't end there. Florence seemed to awaken giant mosquitos. The flooding left by Florence has attracted mosquitos three times larger than normal. The problem has gotten so bad that the government has used over 4 million dollars to combat the mosquito problem.

Overall, whether you believe Hurricane Florence was exaggerated by the media or not, Florence caused billions in damage and severe flooding in parts of North and South Carolina. As a country, we should be thankful it wasn’t worse. We will recover and things like damages and expenses will be repaired.