Durham residents in flood-prone areas prepare for threat of severe weather

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Residents in flood-prone areas of the Bull City say they’re prepared for whatever weather a tropical system may bring.

Many are still recovering from the impacts of Tropical Storm Chantal in July, which brought devastating flooding across the Triangle.

Downtown residents near Madison Street and Northwood Circle are no strangers to flash flooding. The area saw severe flooding back in July.

Water gushed out of storm drains and onto the street, destroying parked cars. John Hoover said the water was even inching up his driveway.

“It’s terrible. The cars are getting totaled,” he said.

Quinn Holmquist said while they’re hoping for the best, everything can change in the blink of an eye.

“It’ll start raining a lot, and then we’ll just kind of see the water start rising and rising and rising,” he said. “We’re hopeful that it’s better, but it’s just, you just really never know. This is a really low-lying area, and has the lowest lying area all around. And so, all the water just pools here.”

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Some parts of north Durham near the Eno River still haven’t been cleaned up from Chantal.

Thomas Evans says the home he was staying in was luckily spared during Chantal, but many in the neighborhood were not as fortunate.

“The house here on the left-hand side, all the way down past the park, and about a couple of houses down that way, headed back that way, everything was flooded,” he said.

Evans said he’s not too worried as another storm approaches.

“I’m not worried because I know it’s in the Lord’s hands, and it is going to be what it is,” he said. “But hopefully you know, everybody survives out of it and there’d be no more problems or whatnot, no flooding.”

As a reminder, it’s important to stay informed, have a plan in case severe weather threatens you and your family, and constantly check the forecast for the latest updates whenever facing a threat of severe weather.

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