&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Emily_1993-08-31_1330Z.png) Emily off the North Carolina coastline on August 31 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | August 22, 1993 |
| Dissipated | September 6, 1993 |
| Category 3 major hurricane | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS) | |
| Highest winds | 115 mph (185 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 960 mbar (hPa); 28.35 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Damage | $35 million (1993 USD) |
| Areas affected | East Coast of the United States (particularly Outer Banks of North Carolina) |
| IBTrACS | |
Part of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Emily in 1993 caused record flooding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina while remaining just offshore. The fifth named storm and the first yet strongest hurricane of the year's hurricane season, Emily developed from a tropical wave northeast of the Lesser Antilles on August 22, 1993. It moved northwestward and strengthened into a tropical storm on August 25, after becoming nearly stationary southeast of Bermuda. Emily then curved to the southwest but quickly resumed its northwest trajectory while strengthening into a hurricane. Late on August 31, the hurricane reached peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on its approach to North Carolina. Although part of the eye passed over Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, its absolute center remained 23 mi (37 km)/h) offshore. Gradually weakening, the hurricane swerved away from the coast toward the northeast and later east. Emily stalled again, this time northeast of Bermuda, and dissipated on September 6 to the southeast of Newfoundland.
The threat of Emily prompted hurricane warnings for much of the North Carolina coast and northward through Delaware. A mandatory evacuation for Ocracoke and Hatteras islands displaced 160,000 people during the busy Labor Day weekend; the loss in tourism revenue amounted to $10 million (1993 USD). About 1,600 residents on these islands rode out the storm in their homes, and emergency officials stayed behind. Most of the evacuees went to hotels or stayed with friends or relatives, causing an increase in business across southeastern Virginia, where effects were minimal. Due to uncertainty in forecasting Emily's path, there were also evacuations from the coasts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Fire Island in New York.
While bypassing the Outer Banks, Emily produced strong winds that coincided with high tides during a full moon, causing severe flooding along the Pamlico Sound. In Buxton, the floods left behind water marks as high as 10.54 ft (3.21 m), and the entire villages of Avon and Hatteras were inundated. The storm downed thousands of trees and wrecked 553 homes—completely destroying 168—leaving a quarter of the Cape Hatteras population homeless. Structural damage in North Carolina was estimated at $35 million. Along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia, three swimmers drowned.