Hurricane Matthew Overview What we expected
• Hurricane Matthew was an extremely destructive and long- lived tropical cyclone which became the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007. • It was reclassified as a Post-Tropical Cyclone by the time it entered Virginia • There were heavy winds and rain but not much storm surge in most areas • The forecast cone of uncertainty did not show Virginia being impacted, until.. What actually happened
… it tracked tightly along the North Carolina coast and headed out to sea just as it reached Virginia
• Impacts to the Tidewater area were primarily from long duration bands of rain on the backside of the cyclone • The date range of impact was primarily October 8 and 9, with extensive flooding continuing into the 10th and beyond. Hurricane Matthew – Rainfall Totals • Rainfall totals in the Hampton Roads area ranged from 3 to 14” inches over 34 hours • The populated areas of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach were the heaviest hit • The National Weather Service at Wakefield reported 10 or more inches of rain in a band from Rocky Mount, North Carolina through the Virginia Beach area (https://twitter.com/NWSWakefi eldVA, October 9, 2016). Hurricane Matthew – Rainfall Totals Pre-Existing Saturated Conditions • Top Image:16 days prior to Hurricane Matthew (Sept 20 through Oct 5) = 8 to 12 inches • Bottom Image: 12 day totals including Hurricane Matthew (Oct 6 through Oct 18) = 9 to 12 inches • Average Annual Rainfall for the area is 46.5 inches
▸ 50% of the annual rainfall fell in 1 month, and 25% in one day Disaster Declaration
• Requested by the Governor of Virginia on October 7, 2016 • Declared on November 2, 2016 • IA only at first • Amendment One signed on Nov. 16, 2016 • Added additional IA and PA jurisdictions
Where, how and with whom do we look? Preliminary Conclusions
1. Pre-Existing saturated conditions throughout the Tidewater area set the stage for disastrous interior flooding 2. Hurricane (Post-Tropical Storm) Matthew was not a statistically significant storm surge or wave action event along the coastal waterfront despite the damage it caused 3. Several interior areas of Virginia Beach experienced a <1% annual chance flood event during (Canal #2 to London Bridge Creek) 4. There are not enough riverine gages to confirm the annual chance flood event
Preliminary Conclusions (continued)
• The existing storm drainage network cannot handle 50% of the annual rainfall amount in 1 month, and 25% in one day. • A large percentage of the flooded properties are slab-on-grade. • Some new developments have been experiencing drainage issues (Ashville Park in Virginia Beach)
The results… Claims outside of the floodplain Final Housing/Business Tally
Total FEMA SBA SBA SBA FEMA FEMA IHP IHP NFIP Home SBA Home Busines Business Locality IHP Reg. Approved Awarded Claims NFIP Payouts Loans Total $$ s Loans Total $$ Total
Accomack - - - 6 $5,748 - - - - $5,748
Chesapeake 684 203 $872,693 153 $1,100,566 58 $1,661,300 3 $69,300 $3,703,859
Hampton 223 88 $262,771 125 $1,515,051 14 $175,800 3 $85,200 $2,038,822
Isle of Wight - - - 10 $98,837 - - - $98,837 Newport News 207 102 $371,446 56 $3,470,869 5 $100,400 - - $3,942,714
Norfolk 688 221 $685,859 289 $2,434,775 41 $667,900 4 $180,000 $3,968,534
Northampton - - - 1 $29,512 - - - - $29,512
Portsmouth 578 177 $657,458 170 $1,424,923 26 $450,100 9 $844,000 $3,376,481
Southampton - - - 2 $10,496 - - - - $10,496
Suffolk 306 93 $489,386 36 $871,268 21 $748,300 4 $402,400 $2,511,354
Recovery Support by the Voluntary Sector • Team Rubicon – 3,276 volunteer hours (Oct 15-28) – $72,072 • VA Conference of the United Methodist Church – 7,072 volunteer hours (Oct – Present) • $155,584 value – 22 Homes repaired • $39,112 funds spent in recovery • Operation Blessing • Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia • The Salvation Army • Baptist General Association of Virginia
Recovery Support by the Voluntary Sector • Tidewater Long-Term Recovery Group – Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach – Membership • VA Conference of the United Methodist Church • Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia • United Way of South Hampton Roads • Southern Baptists Conservatives of Virginia • Volunteer Hampton Roads • The Salvation Army • Local organizations • Local government agencies • Private sector Recovery Support by the Voluntary Sector • Anticipated Case Load – 206 households will need some form of recovery support • Information, referral, emotional/spiritual care, material, financial, repair/rebuild • 103 homes will need physical repairs to be completed by voluntary sector
Questions?