The Case

On September 15, 1999, the residents of Pitt County, North Carolina, were prepared for yet another hurricane, or so they thought. Few could have predicted that they were about to experience the disaster of the century.

Pitt County, with a population of 126,263, is situated in the coastal plain region of North Carolina. In recent years, Hurricanes Bertha, Fran, Bonnie and Dennis have made disaster preparedness in this community almost routine. When the Emergency Operations Center was set up and staffed in the county seat of Greenville, little did they know of the challenges that were to come. The wind came and went; the water came and kept coming.

Once the hurricane had passed, the devastation became apparent as thousands of people sought refuge in emergency shelters, and a thousand more were trapped in their homes by flood waters. The Tar River, which runs through the middle of the county, overflowed its banks and rushed through streets and homes. Entire communities were under water, animal carcasses floated about, and waste water treatment plants failed. The aftermath of Hurricane Floyd threatened to become a monumental public health disaster--one that would only be manageable through the combined efforts of a variety of people and disciplines.

Pitt County Health Department, Pitt County Emergency Services, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, and East Carolina University School of Medicine were the primary responders to this public health emergency. Each agency felt a keen sense of responsibility for the health and safety of the community. They faced familiar challenges such as providing medical care to people stranded in shelters and unfamiliar challenges such as transportation when roads and bridges were washed away. They did not expect to operate the hospital without water or that the disaster would last for days and not end overnight. Lives were lost and thousands of people were displaced, but it could have been much worse. The public health infrastructure of Pitt County proved to be its greatest asset in what has become known as the flood of the century.