The Carolina Coast receives a 1,000-year rainfall event from the Storm System

Parts of North Carolina saw something Monday that hasn’t been seen in hundreds, maybe 1,000 years — 18 inches of rain in half a day.

That means “once in 1,000 years!” The National Weather Service said Monday afternoon on social media as the tropical system moved over the Carolinas.

The system wasn’t organized enough to be called a tropical storm, but it was still historic. The heaviest rain and flash flooding occurred in Carolina Beach, Boiling Springs and Southport in southeastern North Carolina, the NWS reported. Winds gusted to 77 mph, but sustained winds reached 35 mph, USA Today and local media reported.

Other areas that felt unusually heavy rainfall included St. James, Leland and Wilmington. Roads were closed in much of the region. The storm was expected to weaken Tuesday as it moved inland, but more rain was expected in coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia. Tornadoes were also a threat Tuesday morning, the Weather Service noted.

The system can be considered another example of a damaging storm that spins or gains strength close to shore, instead of starting off the west coast of Africa and building as it approaches the Caribbean Sea, the reports said.

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