  hurricane ione  was a strong, category&nbsp;3 hurricane that affected north carolina in september 1955, bringing high winds and significant rainfall. it came on the heels of hurricanes connie and diane, and compounded problems already caused by the two earlier hurricanes. spawned by a tropical wave which left the african coast on september 6, the system became a tropical depression in the tropical north atlantic, before turning northwest and developing into a hurricane. after turning back to the west east of the bahamas, ione turned northwest and northward, moving across eastern north carolina before moving east-northeastward out to sea. ione caused $600&nbsp;million (2005&nbsp;usd) in damage, much of it to crops across north carolina. as a result of ione's impacts seven people lost their lives. ==meteorological history==  a tropical wave moved through cape verde on september 6 and on september 11 ione developed into a tropical depression. ione remained weak for the next few days, and then began to steadily intensify as it moved north of the lesser antilles, reaching hurricane strength on september 15. 
1955_Atlantic_hurricane_season 1955_in_the_United_States Category_3_Atlantic_hurricanes Hurricanes_in_North_Carolina Retired_Atlantic_hurricanes