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#NotJoaquin sets local record for length of flooding

The recent wind and rain storms generated coastal flooding in Tidewater whose magnitude compared to that of several previous named storms, and whose longevity may set a local record.

It wasn’t a hurricane and not exactly a northeastern storm, said David Malmquist director of communications at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point. In fact, he said the storm was trending on Twitter as #NotJoaquin, the recent hurricane that tracked away from the East Coast.

John Boon, Emeritus Professor at VIMS, said that data from VIMS’s Tidewater network showed water levels during high tide at Sewells Point (at Naval Station Norfolk) exceeded the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s designated level for minor coastal flooding for more than five straight days—from Thursday morning, Oct. 1 through Tuesday morning, Oct. 6.

Boon said he calculated the water at Sewells Point, one of NOAA’s longest-running Chesapeake Bay tide gauges, exceeded...

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