Cottages at Carolina Beach on Sept. 28, 1958, were surrounded by water in the wake of that year’s Hurricane Helene.
Associated Press
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Associated Press
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Helene is threatening the Carolinas 66 years to the day after a storm with that same name brought heavy winds and rain to the same areas.
Hurricane Helene raked the coast of the Carolinas on September 27, 1958, but did not actually make landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As it approached Charleston, S.C. that morning, Helene abruptly turned north and then northeast, missing Southport and Cape Fear by just over 20 miles. Its eye paralleled the coast of the southern Outer Banks as it moved out to sea and gradually dissipated, the National Weather Service explains.
Still, it produced unusually heavy winds — up to 140 mph — on land, the strongest observed in coastal North Carolina since the start of modern meteorological recordkeeping in the 19th century.
The storm dumped more than 8 inches of rain in Wilmington, and wrought serious damage to coastal homes and small buildings as well as agricultural fields.
But due to early warnings, mandatory evacuation of coastal islands and its low-tide timing, Helene caused just one serious injury and no direct fatalities.
“As bad as Hurricane Helene was for southeastern North Carolina it could have been much, much worse, ” the NWS says.
There was also a Hurricane Helene in 2006, which similarly did not make landfall in North America.
The 1958 storm predated the Saffir-Simpson scale, but would have been classified as a category 4 storm — the same strength that today’s Hurricane Helene was when it made landfall in Florida.
This story originally appeared as part of NPR’s live coverage of Hurricane Helene, September 27, 2024.