Related Items Read a detailed report on Tropical Storm Josephine from the National Hurricane Center. View the storm tracking chart for every 1996 Atlantic storm (120K) from the NOAA. Go to Index of Post Stories Go to Hurricane Introduction Go to Hurricane Center front page.

Josephine Leaves a Mess In Drenching East Coast From News Services Wednesday, October 9 1996; Page A07 © The Washington Post Click above to view the storm track map. Tropical Storm Josephine never quite made it to hurricane status but still managed to leave behind a waterlogged and windswept mess as it raced up the East Coast yesterday. Gale warnings were posted as far north as New England as the storm -- large and fast-moving but not as powerful as some had forecast -- brought heavy rain and gusty winds across a wide area. Only one fatality was reported. A 72-year-old woman in southwest Georgia was killed yesterday morning when her car struck a tree downed by the storm. The storm's broad center made landfall at the peak of high tide, just after midnight yesterday, bringing flooding and a rash of tornadoes to Florida. Downgraded from a tropical storm as it moved over land, Josephine then crossed the northern part of the state and into Georgia. The storm never did reach hurricane strength of 74 mph as had been feared, hovering just underneath that level as it approached land. And officials looking at the damage yesterday morning said it could have been worse. "We look like we're pretty lucky," said Oscar Garner, emergency management director in Taylor County, where the storm came ashore. The county is in the state's sparsely populated Big Bend area, where the peninsula and the panhandle meet roughly at a right angle. At daylight, some motels and homes in the Steinhatchee area had water in them from a storm surge five to seven feet higher than normal, but early checks revealed no wind damage. Still, electrical service was interrupted to an estimated 400,000 people in Florida. Rainfall totals of more than nine inches were reported in some areas already soggy from rainfall from an unrelated storm over the weekend. Nine tornadoes were reported across Florida, and more than 125 mobile homes were damaged around Jacksonville. As the storm moved onward, flooding was reported yesterday morning on downtown streets in Wilmington, N.C., still recovering from last month's Hurricane Fran. The city got at least four inches of rain. A tornado in Brunswick County damaged one home and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Rain soaked eastern Virginia, flooding intersections and tangling traffic. More than 70 car accidents were reported in the southeastern part of the state; however, no one was killed or seriously injured. © Copyright 1996 The Washington Post Back to the Top

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