North Topsail Beach before and after Hurricane Florence

North Topsail Beach, just north of Hurricane Florence’s landfall, experienced extreme winds and high water levels over the course of several days. These combined effects damaged homes, and completely destroyed one house seaward of the yellow arrow. The dunes in front of the road overwashed and sand was transported landward, covering the road and driveways. The probability of overwash was 36%, but the probability of dune erosion was 100%. The extended duration of wave impacts likely lowered the dunes, allowing them to be overtopped by waves.