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Hurricane Emily in 1993 caused record flooding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina while remaining just offshore. The fifth named storm and first hurricane of the year's hurricane season, Emily developed from a tropical wave northeast of the Lesser Antilles on August 22. It moved northwestward and strengthened into a tropical storm on August 25, after becoming nearly stationary southeast of Bermuda. Emily then curved to the southwest but quickly resumed its northwest trajectory while strengthening into a hurricane. Late on August 31, the hurricane reached peak winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on its approach to North Carolina. Although part of the eye passed over Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, its absolute center remained 23 mi (37 km/h) offshore. Gradually weakening, the hurricane swerved away from the coast toward the northeast and later east. Emily stalled again, this time northeast of Bermuda, and dissipated on September 6 to the southeast of Newfoundland. The threat of Emily prompted hurricane warnings for much of the North Carolina coast and northward through Delaware. A mandatory evacuation for Ocracoke and Hatteras islands displaced 160,000 people during the busy Labor Day weekend; the loss in tourism revenue amounted to $10 million (1993 USD). About 1,600 residents on these islands rode out the storm in their homes, and emergency officials stayed behind. Most of the evacuees went to hotels or stayed with friends or relatives, causing an increase in business across southeastern Virginia, where effects were minimal. Due to uncertainty in forecasting Emily's path, there were also evacuations from the coasts of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Fire Island in New York. While bypassing the Outer Banks, Emily produced strong winds that coincided with high tides during a full moon, causing severe flooding along the Pamlico Sound. In Buxton, the floods left behind water marks as high as , and the entire villages of Avon and Hatteras were inundated. The storm downed thousands of trees and wrecked 553 homes—168 of which completely destroyed—leaving a quarter of the Cape Hatteras population homeless. Structural damage in North Carolina was estimated at $35 million. Along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia, three swimmers drowned as a result of Emily. ==Meteorological history== Hurricane Emily originated from an African tropical wave that passed through the Cape Verde Islands on August 17, 1993. The wave traversed the tropical Atlantic and developed a closed cyclonic circulation five days later about east-northeast of Puerto Rico, when the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified it as a tropical depression. Moving northwestward, the depression remained poorly organized for several days, with an ill-defined circulation center and sporadic thunderstorms, in part due to unfavorable wind shear from an upper-level low to its north. On August 25, the depression became nearly stationary in response to weakening steering currents.〔 As the upper environment turned less hostile to development, a reconnaissance aircraft found unusually high sustained winds—an indication that the cyclone had quickly strengthened into a strong tropical storm. The NHC named the storm Emily and upgraded it to a hurricane the following day, based on reports of 75 mph (120 km/h) winds from a second reconnaissance mission.〔 Upon becoming a hurricane, Emily was centered roughly 1,000 mi (1,600 km) east of the Florida peninsula, passing well south of Bermuda. A ridge of high pressure began to mature to its north, forcing the hurricane westward on August 27. Emily's winds vacillated between tropical storm and hurricane force over the course of the day, although the cyclone resumed its strengthening by August 28 upon developing favorable upper-level outflow.〔 Traversing warm sea surface temperatures, the hurricane continued to improve in appearance on satellite images, and the barometric pressure within its eye steadily decreased. Emily retraced toward the northwest on August 29, when a shortwave trough eroded the southern periphery of the contiguous ridge.〔 The NHC expressed uncertainty in forecasting Emily's track, stating that South Carolina, North Carolina, and Mid-Atlantic states were at risk of a direct hit from the hurricane. As high pressure re-established itself off the North Carolina coast, Emily briefly turned west-northwestward on August 30 before initiating a prolonged curve toward the north. By that time, the NHC forecast Emily to remain offshore, though one tropical cyclone forecast model projected that the hurricane would move inland.〔 Early on August 31, a reconnaissance flight indicated that Emily had become a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, and further intensification was expected because of warm waters. Later that day, reconnaissance reported that Emily had achieved a peak intensity of , a Category 3 major hurricane; the aircraft also observed flight-level winds of . At its peak, the center of the hurricane was located 23 mi (37 km) east of Hatteras Island while turning northward. Its eye measured 45 mi (75 km) in diameter, and a portion moved over Hatteras and the Pamlico Sound, constituting a direct hit but not a landfall.〔〔 After affecting the Outer Banks, Emily continued around the large high-pressure area, turning northeastward into an area with cooler ocean temperatures. The eye nonetheless remained distinct, and Emily maintained much of its intensity through September 2. Later that day, the hurricane turned sharply eastward in response to a trough nearby.〔 Wind shear over the region increased, weakening Emily as its eye feature quickly dissipated. Emily turned to the southeast and diminished to a tropical storm on September 3, about 500 mi (800 km) northeast of Bermuda,〔 with a significant deterioration of the convection. Once again becoming nearly stationary,〔 Emily further weakened to a tropical depression late on September 4, after only a small area of thunderstorms remained near the center.〔 It accelerated toward the northeast and became extratropical on September 6, dissipating shortly thereafter.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hurricane Emily (1993)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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