Coastal Residents In North Carolina Reeling After Catastrophic Flooding

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — “100% worse than Florence,” says Evan Pye, referring to Monday’s storm.

Pye has lived his whole life in Carolina Beach, a small community about 10 miles south of Wilmington, and is no stranger to hurricanes and tropical storms.

But what happened on Monday was different.

“We’ve never seen anything that hit this fast,” Pye exclaims, “I immediately knew that I needed to check on a bunch of people.”

Over a foot-and-a-half of rain fell in a matter of hours in Pye’s backyard, overwhelming streets, cars, and houses. Portions of downtown were under several feet of water as he surveyed the damage by boat… and even on foot.

“Damage will be in the millions,” says Bruce Oakley, Carolina Beach’s town manager.

“We ended up rescuing 115 people, 14 animals.”

And there’s still work to be done.

“We pumped over 20 million gallons of water since this event started to keep that lake down,” Oakley adds, “But it’s still overflowing.”

He says the sheer amount of rain caught the town off guard, but quick action from local officials saved dozens of lives.

“People walked in, knew their jobs, went right to work, and it we performed like we were supposed to,” Oakley beams, “I’m real proud of our department heads, and every employee in this town stepped up to make it work.”

The rain was just as bad in neighboring Brunswick County.

Deo McDaniel was able to drive his boat through the streets of Oak Island, a popular summer tourist destination about 30 miles south of Wilmington. He says the water was up to eight feet deep in spots where the road normally is.

“I went out to see if see how bad it was and we helped a couple people move their cars out of the road,” says McDaniel, “This is the worst flooding I’ve ever seen here… Roads that have never flooded before were flooded.”

“We currently have in our neighborhood multiple roads and bridges that have washed out,” says Carl Schnepf, who lives in St. James.

“There are some areas with no electricity, no water, no sewer.”

Schnepf and his wife, Mary Jo, were helpless as the rain surrounded their St. James home from all sides.

“I started to get a little concerned, but, you know, there’s nothing you can do is just hope for the best.”

Fortunately, the waters didn’t enter their home – but others in nearby Southport weren’t so lucky.

“We were cut off a good 18 to 20 hours where we had no way in or out,” says Chief Todd Coring with Southport Police.

Multiple bridge collapses and sinkholes turned the popular tourist town into an island with no way off – something two people in this truck learned firsthand.

Courtesy: Southport Police Department

“It was about a 25 foot drop that they crashed into; they were injured,” Coring says, “We had to respond in with high water vehicles and ladder down and retrieve them and get them some care and move them to a safer location.”

Fortunately, the occupants of the truck were discharged from the hospital with only minor injuries.

The storm never received a name – and never will – but it’s one residents of these coastal communities will never forget.