GOLDSBORO, N.C. (WNCN) – CBS 17 revisited eastern North Carolina 25 years after Hurricane Floyd forever changed the region with devastating floodwaters on Sept. 16, 1999.
Meteorologist Laura Smith met farmers Bob Ivey and his daughter Marlowe, who lived through the storm in Goldsboro, describing it as a life-changing event for the area.
"It was the closest thing to being in a war without having a lot of shootings," said Bob Ivey.
Floyd made landfall in Cape Fear as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. Rainfall totals reached between 15" to 20", putting eastern North Carolina underwater for days. The effects of Hurricane Floyd came after Hurricane Dennis, which slammed the state less than a month before Floyd with over 10 inches of rain. Grounds were saturated pre-Floyd, making flooding worse.
Bob said he remembers the water rising and not stopping. He knew the roads well and had equipment to help others, so he jumped into action in Wayne County.
"It was neighbor helping neighbor,” Bob said. “It was looking after livestock. It was clearing roads, and it was changing every day because the water kept rising."
His daughter was 12 years old at the time of the storm. She remembers the water flooding her home and looking like a beach.
“There were white caps crashing onto our deck. I was real worried about my dad and our farms," said Marlowe Ivey, who’s a third-generation farmer.
Her dad helped the National Guard rescue people from flooded homes, including his neighbor who was found in her attic. Many places were only accessible by boat or high-water vehicles. Floating fire ant beds and fish made rescue operations even more challenging.
“I mean, when you watch your dad show up with the National Guard to help a neighbor who is in a wheelchair get removed from her home as a 12-year-old, he’s always been a hero to me," Marlowe said.
Hurricane Floyd killed 52 people in North Carolina, including one of Bob's friends going to his farm by boat. The man hit a mailbox, flipped out and got swept away by floodwaters.
As a livestock farmer, farms are just as important as family, so Bob took feed to his farm and checked on his livestock with a 24-foot boat during Floyd. He used the boat to move over 2,000 hogs out of a building taking on water. While tens of thousands of hogs died across the state, the Ivey family said Floyd was actually a success story for North Carolina farmers.
“You mentioned the picture that they like to show everywhere of the hogs on the buildings,” Marlowe said. "That picture stole a voice for farmers because it was not the reality of what we were doing out here, what my dad was doing out here every single day, getting animals out, making sure they had food and water, and there wasn't because we had moved so many animals during that time."
Ivey said farms that lost significant livestock did so because those farms were in low-lying areas and not up to standard. Thirty farms closed for good after Hurricane Floyd.
According to Bob, the current standards were very good at protecting the environment, but the ones that didn't shut down.
The Ivey family made clear that farmers are more prepared than ever because of Floyd, adding preparations begin as early as January and continue throughout the year, putting the environment first always as leaders in science and technology.
Both say Floyd was massive, but made eastern North Carolina stronger than ever before.
