Floodwater surged into homes, stranded vehicles and forced water rescues in coastal North Carolina on Monday after a tropical storm-like system dumped historic amounts of rain in a matter of hours.
“It’s probably the worst flooding that any of us have seen in Carolina Beach,” Town Manager Bruce Oakley told CNN of the tourist town not far from Wilmington. “We’ve had to rescue people from cars, also some from houses and businesses.” Emergency services fielded dozens of calls for rescue, Oakley added.
Carolina Beach was placed under a state of emergency Monday after a “historic” 18 inches of rain fell there in 12 hours at one station, a once-in-1,000-year rainfall event, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. More than a foot of rain in 12 hours was reported elsewhere in the area, a once-in-200-year rain event.
Carolina Beach Elementary School was closed and students were dismissed early after classrooms started to flood, Oakley confirmed. Law enforcement and fire crews helped take some children home as some routes to the school were impassible due to the flooding, with roads under 3 feet of water.
The owner of The Fat Pelican in Carolina Beach told CNN affiliate WWAY he didn’t have time to prepare for that much water.
“There’s water inside the building. I’m trying to get the stuff that was outside that floated away,” Michael McLaughlin explained. But, he said he was optimistic that after the storm passed he could take a garden hose, wash the inside of the restaurant thoroughly and they’d “be ready to go again.”
Lisa and Gary Hollon have had a home in Kure Beach, about 3 miles south of Carolina Beach, for nearly 15 years and never experienced flooding until Monday.
The winds and rain picked up in the early hours of the morning and the first floor of their home experienced “sudden flooding of 4 to 6 inches,” Lisa Hollon told CNN.
“We were not prepared and have never flooded before,” she said. “Many cars were unexpectedly flooded in driveways and along roads.”
In video shared with CNN, the road outside of the home is covered by water as vehicles slowly drive by, causing ripples.
