Three counties have declared a state of emergency after flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal led to damaged roads, businesses and homes, as well as two deaths.
An 83-year-old woman was killed Sunday on a flooded road in Chatham County.
The State Highway Patrol says Sandra Hirschman of Pittsboro was driving on Farrington Point Road near Jordan Lake when floodwater swept her car off the road. One person in Mebane has also died as a result of the flooding, WFDD reported.
Chatham County authorities were looking for two boaters missing on Jordan Lake. The sheriff's office says the pair set off in a canoe around 5 p.m. Sunday at the Farrington Point boat ramp, and their canoe was later found unoccupied.
A state of emergency has been declared in Orange, Alamance and Moore counties. More than 120 roads remain closed Monday due to the flooding, according to Gov. Josh Stein's office. Interstate 40-85 reopened Monday after being closed in Alamance County.
About 20,000 people were still without power in North Carolina on Monday afternoon following the flooding and wind.
Duke Energy reports that more than 16,000 of its customers were affected, mostly in Chatham, Alamance and Orange counties.
Duke says high water levels could slow its efforts to restore power.
'Dangerous' water rescues in Durham, Orange
First responders in Orange County rescued more than 60 people from floodwaters as the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal passed through the area.
Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said water rescue teams from as far away as Davie County were brought in to help.
"Any water rescue is dangerous and inherently challenging in itself," Saunders said. "Doing so in the dark, while the rain is coming down at such force that it was yesterday, is even more challenging. I don't know personally of a fire department in Orange County that did not respond to a water-related incident yesterday or last night."
Orange County officials have opened a shelter at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill to help residents displaced by the storm.
Another 80 people were rescued by boat in northern Durham after the Eno River flooded homes and apartments there.
Paula Farley said she was upstairs, and with her air conditioning and TV on, couldn’t hear the rescue workers knocking, so they smashed open her door. There was a foot of water already inside the first floor.
Her father has health problems that prevent him from walking and the rescuers had to carry him down the stairs and onto the boat. Before she and her daughter climbed aboard too, she took a quick look out her back window.
Usually the river is too far down the banks to even see. "But when I looked out that window, all I saw was water … just, just streaming," Farley said.
As she spoke, Farley was standing beside her townhome’s still-flooded parking lot, looking at her new car. It still had a 30-day tag. And a high-water mark inside, level with the center console.
Chapel Hill shopping center digs out
Business owners in Chapel Hill’s Eastgate Crossing Shopping Center spent Monday assessing damage after the busy retail center was inundated with floodwaters Sunday night.
Katherine Strand stood on the sidewalk outside Winestore, the shop she manages at Eastgate. Scattered next to the broken tasting machine were dozens of ruined wine bottles caked in mud. Strand says her colleagues are coming soon to help her start cleaning up. She says she doesn't know yet how to feel.
"It’s obviously very overwhelming," she said. "I don’t know what tomorrow is gonna look like but … come what may I guess."
A layer of slippery mud lies across the shopping center’s parking lot, along with random litter brought by the floodwaters. A yellow dumpster that used to sit near the wine store is now on the complete opposite side of the parking lot, sitting inside an empty business front with lots of other debris.
Around the corner from the displaced dumpster is The Shoe Repair. Kathleen Fearrington and her family have owned and operated the shoe shop for about 30 years. She said she’s never seen anything this bad.
"It’s a little disturbing but it’s nature so you have to go along with it and just try to build back," she said.
According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, water levels in nearby Booker Creek reached over 9 feet.
Giorgios Bakatsias is the owner of Kipos, and a renowned local restaurateur with over a dozen different restaurants across the Triangle. He said he feels gratitude.
"Of course everybody is going through a difficult time, but the community is strong and it’s a very supportive community," he said. "All is good from the point of view that people are very loving and compassionate. We live in a beautiful area."
Despite the damage, Bakatsias also expressed optimism that he and his fellow Eastgate businesses will recover.
Haw River could set new record
The Haw River at Interstate 40 is currently at near record-breaking flooding levels due to Chantal. At its last check, the gauge was just over 32 feet. The last record of 32.83 was set in 1996 from Hurricane Fran.
Kathleen Carroll is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. She said the record could still be broken, since they seem to be having some issues with a gauge in Chatham County.
"The Haw River at Bynum, the gauge itself is having some issues," Carroll said. "We think there may be some debris at the gauge site, which is downstream a little ways of the 15-501 bridge, and so we will have to go out and survey to know for sure the stage that it reached, but that is potentially past the record flood set during Fran."
Officials are still warning people not to drive through flooded areas.
Drinking water affected by flooding
A boil water notice is in effect in Hillsborough until further notice, due to flash flooding on the Eno River.
The town says the river flooded wells at its water treatment plant, after heavy rains from Tropical Depression Chantal. Orange County officials say it could take until Thursday before normal water service is restored, which could result in a bottled water distribution effort.
The cities of Graham and Mebane are urging residents and businesses to conserve water after flooding shut down their water treatment plant.
City officials say residents should use water only for essential purposes, and industries should stop operating until the plant is repaired. Water pressure could also drop while the cities use a backup supply.
