Monday morning Tim was impressed to find 10 inches of rain in his gauge, from Tropical Storm Chantal. It was only a tropical depression when it got here Sunday afternoon, and there were no areal or flash flood warnings until after the storm was underway. Only then did the warnings start coming in. I lost count of how many times the warning alarms on my cell phone went off. Because we’re at a higher elevation and not in a flood zone we had no idea about what was unfolding in other parts of Carrboro and Orange County. But we knew it was raining hard here for a very long time.
Around noon we decided to drive up to Hillsborough to see what the Eno River looked like. The Riverwalk was closed because the river had flooded at least 19 feet above flood level and had damaged the wooden walkway. In these pictures it had receded some, but parts of the walkway were still under water. We met a public works employee who said they couldn’t open until the water receded, the damage was assessed, and repairs were made. She expects it to be closed for several weeks.
Then we drove down to Chapel Hill to check out Bolin Creek. Not sure how high the creek had gotten but after we left and drove alongside it I saw a picnic table slammed into the bank of the creek. And a plastic chair caught on a tree a little farther along.
Several people we talked to were comparing this storm damage to what Hurricane Fran left behind in September 1996, but we weren’t here for that, so I couldn’t say. We didn’t go into the part of Chapel Hill that flooded and apparently made the national news, but I do wonder about our grocery store down there. We’ll see on Thursday, senior discount day, and therefore our food shopping day. 😉
Today we’re under a heat advisory with heat index values ranging from 105°F to 109°F expected. We never lost power during the storm and I am so grateful to have air conditioning! We’re fine. But my heart goes out to those outside trying to clean up and repair damage after this storm.
Wow, water is nothing to mess with. I’m amazed those bridges held up… well made. Glad you are safe… stay cool. 💕
♡ We are nice and cool inside here, and feel bad for people working outdoors. There is a lot of repair work needed now. The power of that water was amazing, just from seeing the damage it left behind.
I saw some of the images from Carrboro and Chapel Hill on a Youtube channel and it looked bad. I, too, hope those affected get the help they need.
It’s been encouraging reading the Facebook posts of some of the ruined businesses. Lots of people in the community are donating money or their time to help with the clean-up.
Glad you are safe and comfortable. I really had no idea about this storm until I heard about the awful reports from the camp in Texas. Water – one of our life forces, but also a force to be reckoned with.
So true. The power of the oceans always impressed me living by the sea and concerned about hurricanes, but living here I’m learning about the power of flooding rivers and creeks. The damage done in just a few hours is incredible.
So glad to know that you and family are safe at home! I’m surprised that you and Tim ventured out. It’s heartbreaking to see the damage a tropical storm can do in a short amount of time.
Last night on ABC World News with David Muir was speaking with a Corpus Christi Coast Guard on his very first assignment in Kerrville flooding at Camp Mystic saved over 100 children! I was in tears listening to the story.
You know that I have experienced Mother Nature’s wrath more than my share. I never really know what will happen from one day to the next. Clean up and repair take time along with our spirits to heal the trauma.
Oh my, Teri, I hope you don’t think Tim & I ventured out during the storm! We went out the day after so we had to imagine how high the floodwaters got from the evidence left behind. I saw a story about that coastguardsman, too. He must have been so well trained to rise to the occasion like that, on top of being a good person. We lived across the river from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, and would often read stories about the amazing rescues they made. Have you ever needed to be rescued when experiencing nature’s wrath?
No Barbara, I didn’t think you and Tim were being loosy goosy going out during the storm. I could see that the flood waters had receded. I assumed you two were being adventurous rubber necks after the storm passed.
When Hurricane Harvey hit it was a while before a friend and I went to go see the massive devastation. She called me and wanted to take a drive out there, so I was the passenger rubber necking with her. When I told her we were a couple of rubber necks. She had never heard of the expression. After I explained it, she laughed so much. So I do understand the curiosity of it all.
And no. I have never needed to be rescued by official emergency services while experiencing nature’s wrath. Yet, I have experienced many devastating hurricanes, lightning strikes to my house, seen lightning strike splintering two trees across the street, a power line fire in my backyard in 30 degrees, multiple snow blizzards one which I had to drive through to get home from my job landing in a ditch because I couldn’t see where the road was and where two strangers snow angels out of nowhere dug out the snow that completely covered my mini cooper to the top and transported me to my home, and a destructive tornado that took down an entire outdoor shopping center that happened without warnings within 15 minutes it was upon us. Unfortunately blowing out my back window to my convertible mini cooper while we hunkered down in the basement of a restaurant until the gas line broke and we were all told to leave immediately. So there we all were car after car stuck going no where in a traffic jam!
I think i have experienced my share. It has taught me survival skills of living without power for days and all kinds of wacky Mother Nature events.
I first heard about rubbernecking when I was a very small child. It was one of my father’s pet peeves when we were on the road and traffic would slow down while other drivers were gawking at the scene of an accident. After cursing them with very unsavory language he would use the opportunity to lecture us about how we shouldn’t be rubbernecks and that if there was nothing we could do to help out in a situation we should get the hell out of the way.
Having that derogatory connotation to rubbernecking drilled into me I prefer to think of you and your friend and Tim and myself as curiosity seekers. We parked in open parking lots, stayed behind barriers, and didn’t get in anybody’s way. In fact, the public works employee was so eager to talk to us and other curiosity seekers that we had to excuse ourselves because I was starting to get sunburned.
Oh my goodness, you have definitely had more than your share of frightening experiences in natural disasters!!! You could write a book, to me, what little I know of your life already sounds like it has the makings of a compelling memoir. I can’t help thinking what a good thing it was that your snow angels noticed what happened to your car and stopped what they were doing to help you. A good example of what my father was talking about, knowing when to stop and help and when to get out of the way.
What a mess! I have a healthy respect for the destructive power of water. Stay cool, if you can. Those are high temps.
That destructive power is amazing to see, right after it happens. We’re nice and cool inside here and so grateful that we never lost power! The heat index was 104°F yesterday.