Local News - April 2003

Deluge prompts flooding

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

A steady, cold rain drenched Lincoln County Thursday — the fifth day of rainfall and gray skies in the area.

The rain saturated the ground and caused creeks, streams and rivers to swell.

A flood warning was issued for the South Fork River until today.

Susan Spake, Lincoln County director of emergency management, said officials began checking levels of the South Fork at 9:40 a.m. By 2 p.m., the river had risen two feet.

“We are above the flood stage at the South Fork,” Spake said.

Flooding Thursday was similar to the flooding March 16, Spake said.

“We expect the same areas  … to be back out by the time it all ends,” she said. City Park, spots on Laboratory Road and Clarks Creek all experienced high water levels Thursday.

Areas in western Lincoln County also felt the brunt of the storm, as low-lying areas filled quickly with red, muddy water.

Eddie Hudson, who lives on Seagletown Road off Reepsville Road, watched a small creek in his backyard turn into a raging river.

“My wife came in yesterday from work and said, ‘I think I might buy a boat,’” Hudson said.

The banks of the narrow creek gave way to the rush of water, which took over a green field. The flooded area was about 35 yards wide in some spots.

“It was high this morning when I got up, but it’s risen in the last couple of hours,” Hudson said. “It doesn’t usually get that high.”

One yard in the 5600 block of Reepsville Road was severely flooded, with water washing over the cement driveway and cascading over a small waterfall. Another drainage pipe dumped more water into the yard, soaking the grass with about four inches of standing water.

Steve Peeler, director of public works and utilities for Lincolnton, said as of Thursday morning, the city had not experienced major flooding problems.

However, if there are any flash floods, that could change.

“If we do get extremely heavy rain, then we probably will have some street flooding,” Peeler said.

The city drainage system is designed for rainfall, but not flash flooding events, Peeler said.

City crews are basically taking a wait-and-see attitude. They’re out looking and surveying the area, as well as responding to calls from residents.

“You just kind of have to see where your problem is and then go address it,” Peeler said. “If the rainfall is not for a long duration, we should be okay.”’

Emergency officials asked law enforcement agencies to help keep watch on rising water levels and flooding streets, Spake said. They also faxed a list of dangerous roads to schools, so officials there would be aware of the situation.

Several bands of thunderstorms and heavy rain were moving from the southeast to the northwest Thursday, spreading from South Carolina into North Carolina.

Lincoln County received about two inches of rain Thursday.

Another inch was expected to fall by today as part of circulating system that has pounded the region.

A band of snow stretched from Spartanburg to Greer, S.C., and Asheville received more than three inches of snow. A landslide forced officials to shut down part of U.S. 321 just south of Blowing Rock, and officials said it could be up to three weeks to get the road cleared.

“The system seems to have settled right over us, and it’s rotating back toward the west,” Spake said.

Loud claps of thunder and bright lightning rolled in with the storms, and low temperatures made being outside even more miserable.

Temperatures dropped into the 30s during Thursday.

But relief is on the way.

A few showers are expected for today and temperatures should be in the mid-50s.

Temperatures are slated to rise to the upper-60s by Saturday,

By Sunday, things should get back to normal, with temperatures in the 70s.

And things will keep warming up next week, with high temperatures climbing into the upper-70s.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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