Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Floyd's landfall along the North Carolina coast.

The storm brought up to 24 inches of rain to some areas in the eastern part of the state.

Fifty-seven people died; 35 of those lived in North Carolina.

Flooding submerged 30 downtown areas and damage estimates topped $1 billion.

Rocky Mount marked the anniversary with a series of lectures and exhibits at the Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences in Downtown Rocky Mount, a building that was rebuilt after Floyd.

Local leaders talked about the progress that has been made in the past ten years.

Most of the physical recovery in Rocky Mount is complete. And the local government's response to emergencies has been transformed.

Rocky Mount has a state of the art communications system; towns and counties have better technology to track storms; and the state has specialized swift water rescue teams.

"The city has moved on. The counties have moved on. But I think emotionally there are some people that will never get past it," said Rocky Mount Mayor David Comb.