People Clean Up As Floods Continue to Threaten Mountains

CALDWELL COUNTY, NC — Flooding threatens the mountains and foothills for a fourth night Monday.

Rain continues to fall as people deal with damage to homes and roads.

“No, it’s dangerous,” said Keith Barringer.

Barringer lives in Edgemont. It’s a Caldwell County town near the Pisgah National Forest.

He surveyed the damage Monday after four feet of water filled his yard at one point during the downpours over the weekend.

“It wasn’t slowly rising,” said Barringer.

Rescuers had to save his neighbors from their rooftop.

“There’s no getting out when the water so deep you can’t walk across it, and it’s so swift, i screwed my door shut to keep the water out,” said Barringer.

Two inches of water filled his home.

His buildings and sheds collapsed against the moving water. He lives next to Wilson Creek. Trees are collapsed along the creek. The water even caused a bridge to buckle.

It picked the ATV up in his yard and carried it for feet. It carried a picnic table more than 200 feet.

Roads are washed out from HWY 90/Edgement Rd. to Brown Mountain Beach Rd. north of the Wilson Creek Visitor Center.

The Department of Transportation has been filling roads with gravel since Saturday morning.

“This is wilderness,” said Bruce Gray. “No cell phone service, nothing, when you’re up here, you have to be prepared for anything.”

Gray’s campground business, Betsy’s Old Country Store, stands to lose up to $40,000 if the fish he just put in his pond do not survive the flooding.

In Watauga County, landslides blocked rods in the Zionville Community.

It will likely take crews and homeowners weeks to clean up.

Runoff from Grandfather Mountain causes the flooding in Caldwell County because it fills Wilson Creek and John’s River.

Grandfather Mountain State Park says it got 11 inches of rain in four days. It has closed trails and campsites for the next several weeks while crews assess damage and repair eroded sections of trails.