Concerns About Flooding as Water Moves Down Catawba River

CRAMERTON, NC – People are keeping a close eye on the Catawba River, concerned about flooding downstream.

The parking lot and the picnic area are underwater at Riverside Park in Cramerton.

Rising water didn’t stop Olivia Banks and Eric Lever from having some fun at Lookout Shoals in Catawba County.

They were surprised to find part of the dock covered by water Wednesday.

“This water right here was about shallow. You’d have to take at least maybe 15 to 18 steps just to be able to get to the water and now it’s just come higher,” Banks says.

“Come out here about twice a week or so, just hang out and put our feet in the water. We can’t even get to the dock,” Lever says.

After heavy rain in the mountains this week, it usually takes a day or two for the water to reach areas downstream.

Now people living there are worried flooding could get worse in the hours to come.

“We’re nervous that it’s going to come higher, but there’s not really anything I can do to stop it,” Banks says.

In Mecklenburg County, Tommy Daniel and his neighbors on Lake Drive are used to flooding.

“It gets pretty scary. It gets real close to getting in the house and then some of the houses, it does get inside of them,” Daniel says.

Daniel says the last bad flood was around this time five years ago. He says some creatures are already preparing.

“Found a snake that’s already hunted high ground. And got the squirrels up there playing in the trees too,” Daniel says.