Project Summary

Pitt County has a history of flooding during heavy rainfall and hurricane events. Major floods in the past quarter-century include Hurricanes Fran (1996), Floyd (1999), Matthew (2016), and Florence (2018). These storms caused extensive damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and agriculture, and disrupted access to critical services across the county – with some of the most significant flooding observed in “North of the River” communities.

Hurricanes Floyd and Matthew – the two (2) most recent major flooding events in Pitt County – each resulted in over twenty (20) feet of flood water above “normal” stream conditions at the Tar River USGS stream gauge in Greenville (FIMAN, 2024). This resulted in over 4,300 damaged structures during Floyd, and over 3,300 structures damaged during Matthew. In some of the most-impacted areas north of the Tar, there are significant clusters of housing stock within the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) that consist of mobile homes, manufactured structures, and single-family dwellings that are at- or near-grade. Paired with additional damages to public infrastructure, such as: electric substations, sewer mains, pump stations, and the water treatment plant, the road to recovery has been long and challenging for many Pitt County residents.

In response to these conditions, the Pitt County Floodprint focused on the development of public infrastructure projects that can best serve unmet flood mitigation and emergency response needs in “North of the RIver” communities.

To accomplish these goals, this study used an environmental and community planning approach referred to as “floodprinting,” which highlights the use of place-based approaches as a response to natural hazards and climate change. As part of the Pitt County Floodprint, specific project phases and scope-of-work items included: inventory and analysis, public outreach and engagement, hydraulic modeling, schematic planning and design, three-dimensional modeling, photorealistic rendering, benefit-cost analysis, and grant-writing.

Created over a sixteen (16) month project period, this document intends to both provide direction regarding feasible and sustainable practices within the identified focus areas, while also providing actionable collateral that can be used to attract external resources (e.g., competitive grants and funding programs) towards these projects.