Posted on 09/08/2004 1:40:43 PM PDT by NCjim
The remnants of Hurricane Frances stretched across North Carolina on Wednesday, flooding mountain communities in the west and chopping up the surf 450 miles away along the coast.
As much as a foot of rain over the past day and a half forced rivers out of their banks and pushed mud and rocks down mountain slopes in western North Carolina, while at least six possible tornadoes spun through the central and eastern parts of the state. Rip current warnings were issued along the Outer Banks.
Hundreds of people evacuated their homes to avoid flooding. Rescuers pulled several stranded people from rising water, but no deaths or serious injuries were reported. The National Guard activated 140 soldiers to help with rescue and relief operations and 26 shelters were open Wednesday morning, state safety officials said.
In downtown Canton, the Pigeon River spilled as much as 4 feet into town hall and a couple of dozen other buildings before receding Wednesday. A brown film left by the water still clung to the building's white brick walls.
"You can't do anything about it when it comes up this quickly," Canton Mayor Pat Smathers said. "The fire department, the police department and the city administration all got flooded. Fortunately, we are still able to function, but we've got a tremendous amount of work to do."
Workers pushed mud down the main streets Wednesday with large rubber squeegee brooms and into gutters. The town issued a curfew to begin at 8:30 p.m.
About 20 miles east, water from the surging Swannanoa River in Asheville pushed into an exclusive shopping center at the entrance of the Biltmore Estate, one of the state's most popular tourist spots. The flooding wrecked businesses with water as high as 5 feet. On the road nearby, water covered the engines of about 15 cars.
Chris Bennett, a chef at the Biltmore Estate, said the water blocked his way to work.
"I tried to come to work at 5 a.m. this morning, and the water was rushing. It basically looked like a Class 3 rapid," Bennett said. "I have never seen it like this before."
Bob and Jennifer Rhea, owners of Kismet Cafe in Biltmore Village, spent much of the night trying to protect their business from flooding by stacking sandbags around the outside. They walked back to their car Wednesday morning wet to their knees and defeated.
The water inside their cafe was head high, Bob Rhea said.
"I don't know if we can bounce back from this," he said. "I work too hard to do this every year."
Workers from a nearby clothing store hauled off dressed mannequins to save them from the foot of water inside.
"We're just trying to get out as much as we can," said store worker David Ballew.
In Watauga County, in the northwest corner of the state on the Tennessee border, a house slid off its foundation Wednesday morning with two people inside, but neither was injured, officials said.
Firefighters rescued at least five drivers who were stranded in rising waters after they ignored police barricades on closed or dangerous roads, Boone Fire Department Chief Reggie Hassler said.
To the west, flooding shut down much of the town of Canton, a Haywood County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said.
To the east, a rockslide blocked two of the four lanes of a five-mile stretch of Interstate 40 beginning in McDowell County, said Patty McQuillan, spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. In nearby Swannanoa, Jose Castillo and his 11-year-old son, William, stood about 200 feet from their flooded trailer.
It was one of 15 in LongView Park underwater Wednesday afternoon.
"We're OK. We all got out yesterday," Jose Castillo said as water rushed through the neighborhood.
Evacuations were also reported after heavy flooding and mudslides in Rutherford, Henderson and Polk counties, south and southeast of Asheville on the South Carolina border. A rest home in Haywood County, west of Asheville, was also evacuated, McQuillan said.
In eastern North Carolina, Pembroke city officials reported that 5 inches of rain Tuesday flooded the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Knee-deep water still surrounded some buildings and stranded cars Wednesday, said Scott Bigelow, assistant director of university relations.
"We've had hurricanes here, but we've never seen this kind of water before," he said. "We've canceled classes because of hurricanes but not because of high water."
Strong winds in Northampton County reportedly associated with a tornado seriously damaged a house and lifted an outbuilding and a vacant mobile home from their foundations, Emergency Management Director Ron Storey said.
Possible tornadoes were also reported throughout central and eastern North Carolina and a tornado watch was issued for 38 counties.
The central part of the state was warned to expect 3 to 6 inches of rain through Wednesday as the center of Tropical Depression Frances moves east, with the possibility of flash floods from west of the Interstate 95 corridor to areas around Randolph County, south of Greensboro, said Rod Gonski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh.
On the coast, a high risk of rip currents were expected Wednesday between Bald Head Island and Surfside Beach in South Carolina, the weather service said.
Hurricane Frances - the unwanted guest who never wants to leave.
I live in Raleigh and things seem to be mostly ok here.
I'm living in the area mentioned in this article. My wife and I went around today and saw quite a bit of flooding. The Davidson River actually went out of its banks last night, very unusual as it's a very fast moving river. The French Broad (note for those not residing in Western North Carolina: this is a river, not John Kerry's french squeeze) is still out of its banks. Not a pretty picture.
Of course this does not compare to the 1916 flood, thank goodness, but few are around who remmeber that. I heard my Dad's stories and it was terrible.
Yes, the old roundhouse is still there. There have been cars parked in the lot on the occasions when I have driven past in the last month. I am really tempted to go in there and ask to take some digital photos.
We had about 6", east of Charlotte. Some flooding, but not much. If it doesn't rain today, everything should be clear by tomorrow. Interesting year so far!
No flooding here. We badly needed the rain. Offically, we got about 3 inches.
Glad to hear that!!!
We badly needed the rain.
We sure don't. Based upon my observation out the windows, I won't be going anywhere today. I imagine the back roads will be flooded here within the hour, and it doesn't seem the rain is letting up at all.
I can barely remember the old steam engines going through Biltmore... life was so much simpler then!
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