A case in point - in August 1999, Hurricane Dennis (a category 2) never even made landfall but lingered off the coast as a tropical storm for almost a week causing a tremendous amount of rain. Two weeks later, Hurricane Floyd, which was forecast as a category four, was much weaker when it actually hit land, but Dennis and Floyd together eventually led to the worst flooding this state had seen in over 100 years and,according to geologists, exceeded 500 year flood levels. Entire inland communities were underwater for days. Floyd was responsible for 57 deaths and $4.9 billion dollars in damage.