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Here’s how the storms of North Carolina’s past affected athletics.
In my first year at UNC, I remember the terrible Tar Heels of Bill Dooley upsetting ranked Florida 22-7 as a monsoon fell on Kenan Stadium and the Gators fumbled seven times. Students came out in droves and drenched themselves in fun for a team that went 3-8.
There were 30 official hurricanes or severe rainstorms from 2000 on, following Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Fran in 1996. Some were severe, dealing death and destruction; others were torrential rainstorms and catastrophic flooding to people and property.
In the last 15 years, besides Matthew, there have been Hurricanes named Irene, Joaquin, Florence, Dorian, Isaias and Debby before horrible Helene that still haunts Asheville and vicinity.
Chapel Hill is relatively lucky because it is land-locked and almost immune to the flooding that struck so viciously over the weekend. I remember how Fran forced Mack Brown to take his football team to Syracuse several days early, a 27-10 win watched by cabin-fevered crowds that found bars with working TVs.
There were Hurricanes Florence and Gordon in 2000, 17 more named Hurricanes and storms since 2010. Hurricane Matthew caused Duke, State and Wake in 2016 to postpone their football games, while Carolina played Virginia Tech, a 34-3 loss where Bubba Cunningham admitted he should have changed the time.
Basketball got infamous for adjustments when snowstorms led to games being played but only in front of students and fans who could walk to the Dean Dome. Most people stayed home to watch on TV.
The unranked Heels of Bill Guthridge upset No. 22 Maryland on a student-surrounded court in 2000, when the Terrapins compared the suffocating atmosphere to playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
When fifth-ranked Duke refused to bus over from Durham on icy roads in 2014, the postponement turned into an upset win for unranked Carolina in Leslie McDonald’s best college game before a wild, capacity crowd.
And when a snowstorm put the Carolina-N.C. State game in jeopardy last season, the same requests for students and walk-ins only turned into a 24-point romp for the Tar Heels over the Wolfpack.
Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across Western North Carolina before Election Day 2024, wiping out dozens of high school and small college games for weeks. Some schools could not finish their seasons due to the damage inflicted.
What happened to certain parts of town last weekend came during the off seasons for all sports above rec league games that were cancelled due to swamped fields. Luckly, most of the flooded areas recovered in a couple of days.
This, of course, was an unwelcome start to the hurricane season that has grown in breadth and scope due to climate changes that turns bad storms even worse and far harder to forecast.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Chansky’s Notebook: Storm Seasons Chapelboro.com.
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