hurricane diana hurricane diana fourth tropical storm hurricane major hurricane strongest storm atlantic hurricane season diana major hurricane hit nearly years watches warnings issued storm east_coast eastern florida virginia caused moderate damage north_carolina looped offshore landfall category hurricane forming september diana moved northward north_carolina couple days mid september dropping heavy rainfall left state accelerated east northeast diana quickly evolved extratropical cyclone damages united_states totaled million usd indirect fatalities caused cyclone meteorological history origins hurricane diana traced stalled area low pressure north bahamas tail end cold september shower thunderstorm activity began increase day generally disorganized utc september ship vicinity low reported sustained wind speed mph hours later based satellite observations low designated tropical storm diana weak steering currents diana gradually intensified slowly moved west day coming miles florida taking sharp turn north northwest diana neared florida turned northeast intensified hurricane weak steering currents detached diana drifted westward came miles florida coast continuing westward hit near diana turned northwest paralleled coastline storm continually strengthening turned northeast hurricane september september september diana rapidly intensified peak miles hour winds remaining offshore approaching frontal system caused diana execute cyclonic loop cool dry air caused weaken hurricane hit wilmington north_carolina weakening hurricane maximum sustained winds miles hour september quickly weakened tropical storm land high pressure system built diana looped weakened allowing storm north east crossing diana accelerated northeast miles hour storm extratropical near nova scotia september preparations soon advisories initiated gale warnings issued florida virginia afternoon september morning september gale warnings lowered south florida diana strengthened hurricane hurricane watches gale warnings raised north_carolina morning september gale warnings upgraded hurricane warnings georgia oregon inlet warnings watches south dropped time morning september hurricane warnings lowered south savannah georgia afternoon warnings lowered south south_carolina morning september warnings lowered south south_carolina early morning september gale warnings raised cape later morning hurricane warnings lowered wilmington north_carolina warnings dropped cape gale warnings effect wilmington cape inland warnings lowered afternoon september tropical storm moved offshore gale warnings went effect september september cape virginia north_carolina coastline state deployed assist residents evacuating preparing hurricane south_carolina governor declared state emergency placed national guard standby schools carolinas georgia closed beaches closed strong rip currents beach erosion residents barrier islands urged evacuate waves excess expected approximately families relocated mobile homes near north_carolina state officials hour emergency operations center established moved available boats area position deployed immediately needed georgia coastline golden isles georgia evacuated large swells produced diana nursing homes evacuated voluntary evacuation issued residents town shelters opened schools counties relatively families sought refuge local schools beaches closed duration storm passage impact aftermath category winds mph diana threatened intense hurricane strike north_carolina hurricane looped weakened offshore landfall category hurricane diana caused million damage usd heavy flooding inches rain tree damage downed power lines damage experienced wilmington north_carolina south_carolina light nuclear power plant recorded winds mph making hurricane diana hurricane bring hurricane force winds nuclear power plant yard damage seen plant unaffected indirect deaths reported diana person died heart attack making hurricane preparations automobile accidents following storm president ronald_reagan declared north_carolina counties federal disaster area allowing affected regions receive government funds assistance funds allocated repairing roads
Hurricane Diana (1984)