Seven secondary roads and part of N.C. 87 remain closed today after historic rainfall from a tropical low pressure system drenched the county.
The storm would have been Tropical Storm Helene, had it held together, the National Weather service said. Helene began to elongate and fall apart as it made landfall in South Carolina Monday, creating a smaller area of low pressure that brought an inch of rain per hour to parts of New Hanover, and upwards of ten inches in Columbus County.
Officially, Whiteville received three to six inches of rain. Heavy bands of showers brought more precipitation to other areas. The county remained under a state of emergency as of 1 p.m. Tuesday (today).
Major flooding occurred in the extreme eastern end of the county, as multiple water rescues took place in Acme, Delco, Riegelwood, Prosper, Sandyfield and elsewhere. Bladen County also saw several boat evacuations, notably in the Clarkton area.
Some homes in Delco remain isolated by floodwaters today, as several feet of water are flowing over Water Tank, Livingston Chapel and Swimming Hole roads.
A few homes along the shore at Lake Waccamaw saw water incursion, while some on Robeson Street, Maple Street and elsewhere were partially flooded by backed up drains.
Hundreds of motorists were stranded on U.S. 74 Monday night as the highway was closed between Bolton and Delco. Across the Brunswick County line, travelers were stuck at gas stations and parking lots as well as on the highways as N.C. 211 and U.S. 17 had major washouts.
Andrew Barksdale of the Department of Transportation said crews are waiting for water to recede before inspecting the flooded roadways.
“In almost every case, we are finding no roadway damage,” he said. “We are waiting for the water to recede, then inspect, then reopen. We think most of the flooded roads will be reopened by today.”
Columbus County Emergency Management reported 12 roads closed off at the height of the storm. Most of the water rescues occurred in the east end of the county, where Acme Delco Riegelwood Fire Rescue called on Lake Waccamaw Fire and other departments for assistance.
Downtown Whiteville was briefly closed after waters rose by a foot on West Main Street at Madison. College Street was completely cutoff at one point by floodwaters.
