Florence floods Durham, Orange roads and shopping centers, forces evacuations. Driving hazardous | The Herald Sun

More drenching rain from Tropical Storm Florence made driving hazardous Monday and forced some residents to flee rising floodwaters.

The morning commute was slow-going for many who found themselves driving through deep water and, in some cases, coming to a complete stop. Videos posted on social media showed water covering heavily traveled roads, including Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and Duke Street in Durham.

Chapel Hill officials said more than 6 inches had fallen in the last 24 hours, and nearly 9 inches in the last three days.

In Carrboro, police blocked several roads as the rains pushed creeks and University Lake over their banks, including the Jones Ferry Road bridge over the lake and the busy North Greensboro Street and Estes Drive intersection. Smith Level Road in Carrboro also was closed for a time after a tree fell across it early Monday.

Carrboro police said Monday afternoon the Jones Ferry Road bridge would be closed until NCDOT crews could inspect it.

Crews were still checking on floodprone areas, Carrboro Fire Chief Susanna Williams said in an email, including neighborhoods west of town near Jones Ferry Road and Springhill Forest Road. Emergency responders were working with neighboring agencies to respond to that area, where the road was washed out and impassable, she said.

School decisions

Bus drivers with Orange County Schools and Durham Public Schools also contended with torrential rains and flooded roads Monday morning. Students stood in the pouring rain, trying to stay out of the spray from passing cars, as they waited for their buses to arrive.

A DPS bus picking up kids from Forest View Elementary got stuck on Pickett Road, when the bus driver tried to turn around to avoid Mud Creek. The creek was flowing well over over the Pickett Road bridge Monday morning.

About a dozen students were eventually shuttled to the school by staff, a parent said.

Parents and residents in both counties criticized the districts for holding classes. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, after debating whether to open two hours late, called off school altogether Monday.

Orange County district officials apologized in a Facebook post.

“When we make decisions to close or delay or open schools, safety is always our top priority,” district officials said. “Though we lead with safety, we might not always get the decision correct. Today is one of those days.”

Orange County students were dismissed two hours early Monday to avoid more rain that was expected in the afternoon. The district also canceled afterschool activities and said any student who missed school on Monday would be excused, officials said.

Evacuations

Although Carrboro only reported a few people evacuated from the Estes Park Apartments, police reached out to multiple neighborhoods. Residents in the Yorktown and Heritage Hills neighborhoods decided to stay in their homes, Williams said.

Chapel Hill police and the South Orange Rescue Square rescued about 40 people Monday from stranded cars and flooded homes, including Camelot Village Condominiums, Brookwood Condominiums, Booker Creek Townhouse Apartments, Ridgefield Apartments, and the Airport Gardens public housing community.

By Monday morning, the floodwaters had reached 10.5 feet, equal to flood levels seen during a devastating June 2013 flood at Camelot Village. That storm damaged 72 of 116 condos, forcing residents to evacuate and many to move away. Another flood followed in December 2013, affecting 21 condos.

The complex has been evacuated multiple times in the past for flooding. Although the town contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency more than once about buying out the complex, which was built in 1967 between two floodplains, officials have not been able to strike a deal with condo owners, many of whom do not live there.

Orange County opened a shelter Monday afternoon at the Department of Social Services Commons, located at 113 Mayo St. in Hillsborough for displaced residents. The shelter will be open up to 72 hours and is pet friendly, Orange County officials said.

In Durham, emergency officials evacuated the residents in the Old Farm neighborhood, who had watched the Eno River rising behind their homes throughout the morning.

Mike Wendt said the river was normal around 7 a.m. Monday, but by 9:30 a.m., it was coming up his more than 75-foot driveway.

“It reached two inches below where it was with [Hurricane] Fran,” said Wendt, 77, who has lived in the area for 43 years.

Wendt loaded a couple of families into his red canoe and helped them get out of their homes before emergency crews came to let them know about the flooding, he said.

It did not appear that the water went into many of the homes, but a few cars stalled out and others were flooded by the rising water, residents said.

Shopping center flooded

Businesses and homes in Chapel Hill from Eastgate Crossing to Estes Drive, and east to Ephesus Church, Willow and Legion roads, were especially affected by floodwaters. The area is one of the lowest in southern Orange County, much of it in the floodplains from Booker and Bolin creeks.

But the flooding at Eastgate was some of worst longtime residents said they had seen. Around the corner, the Mariakakis Shopping Center also was hit hard by rising water from Booker Creek, which flows behind it and past the new Fordham Boulevard apartments being built on the edge of the creek.

As young people skimboarded and rode their bikes through the flooded parking lot, Carrboro resident Steve Hammer took off his shoes, rolled up his jeans and waded into the muddy, brown water.

His 2005 Pontiac G6 sat with floodwaters halfway up its wheels — and a line of dirt just below the door handles where the water had peaked.

“The battery shorted,” said Hammer, 40, who recently moved from Raleigh. He had left the car in the parking lot Sunday night while helping a friend with handyman work in Chapel Hill.

“I didn’t even think about the potential for flooding,” he said.

Hammer took an Uber back to Eastgate on Monday morning, and when he saw the water covering the parking lot said, “Oh crap, my car’s in there.”

He bought the car two months ago from a friend, Hammer said.

“I’m still making payments on it.”

Staff writer Joe Johnson contributed to this report.