Heavy rains from Tropical Depression Chantal struck the Triangle on Sunday, dropping between five to ten inches of water throughout region — causing flash flooding that led to both evacuations and road closures.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Sunday afternoon and extended it overnight through Monday, with many parts of the community hit with sustained rainfall. The results in many areas were high waters that led to flooding, road damage, power outages and other dangers.
Shortly after 9 p.m., the Town of Chapel Hill shared an alert saying local first responders were “in the process” of evacuating some units within the Camelot Village community in the 100 block of South Estes Drive due to flash flooding. Those evacuations spread to other areas off Bolin Creek and Booker Creek as the night went on. According to an update shared shortly before midnight, the town government reported dozens of people who first responders helped move to safety and more than 60 residents displaced by the floodwaters.
As of Monday morning, Chapel Hill reported that Camelot Village saw 20 residents rescued and displaced, while also rescuing 18 people outside of the 900 Willow apartment building at University Place mall. Chapel Hill also reported 21 people displaced at Airport Gardens off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from storm damage, 2 people displaced from Bolinwood Condominiums and 2 people displaced from Booker Creek Townhouse Apartments because of flooding.
The Orange Rural Fire Department said it aided with some of those water rescues while completing others in Carrboro and Cedar Grove, tallying 65 people rescued in a two-hour span.
The Orange County government’s Emergency Services declared an official state of emergency at 10:45 p.m. Sunday. To help with those displaced or seeking higher ground from flooding, the county opened the Seymour Center at 2551 Homestead Road as a reception center and are preparing a shelter for later on Monday. Residents in need can receive blankets, bottled water and support from county staff, according to Orange County Emergency Services.
The final rain totals were historic for Chapel Hill. Since 1891, there were only three instances when the town got more than six inches of rain in a 24-hour span: Hurricane Fran in 1996, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and Hurricane Florence in 2018. On Sunday, the Southeast Regional Climate Center reported its gauge in Chapel Hill got roughly eight inches.
Accounts and pictures verified by Chapelboro showed significant flooding at Eastgate mall caused by Booker Creek swelling from the storm. Witnesses reported seeing several businesses with standing water on their floors and vehicles submerged by floodwaters.
People walk through floodwaters to leave Eastgate mall in Chapel Hill after flash flooding on Sunday, July 6. (Photo via Joe Nanney.)
Beyond that, the Town of Chapel Hill reported several of its roads closed during Sunday night’s storm. Those areas, as of 11:45 p.m., included:
- 1800 E. Franklin Street
- Hillsborough Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Bolinwood Drive
- The 200 block of S. Estes Drive
- The 200 block of S. Elliott Road
- Estes Drive at Library Drive
- Fordham Boulevard at Elliott Road
- Fordham Boulevard at Cleland Drive
- Fordham Boulevard at Brandon Road
- Raleigh Road at Country Club Road
- 500 block of Umstead Drive
Carrboro’s emergency services also reported a few roads closed overnight due to flooding. Smith Level Road at Public Works Drive was closed from the westbound off-ramp to BPW Club Road, while Jones Ferry Road was closed from Old Fayetteville Road to Damascus Church Road.
Meanwhile, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted at 6:49 p.m. on Facebook and warned of several locations further north in Orange County seeing high waters. People were encouraged to avoid the Ashbury apartments on Highway 70 West near the Alamance County line, Old NC Highway 86 at Spring Hill Road, and Churton Street at Orange Grove Road. The Town of Hillsborough shared a similar post Sunday night, saying roads were flooded throughout town and people are encouraged to not travel whenever possible.
The local governments urged residents to call 911 in the event of an emergency instead to solely report storm damage or power outages — which were widespread through Orange County into Monday morning. Storm damage can be reported through webpages by either Orange County or the Town of Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, energy providers should be contacted to report outages and receive updates on potential restoration. The latest Duke Energy outages can be found on its Outage Map webpage.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story reported Chapel Hill rescued 18 residents of 900 Willow Drive from Sunday’s flooding. The apartment building has since said no residents were displaced and no residential units suffered flood damage, and the Town of Chapel Hill corrected its notes to reflect the people rescued were simply in the area of the building.
Featured photo via Joe Nanney.
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