Durham residents recount evacuating after the Eno River flooded their homes
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- Durham Fire Department rescued over 80 people after Eno River flooded homes.
- Power outages and submerged vehicles forced dozens to evacuate Rippling Stream.
- City officials urged residents to seek aid through Red Cross and relief centers.
Early Monday morning, Kelly Rivera was awakened by her grandchildren, telling her they needed to leave their home.
Rivera was sleeping and didn’t hear the banging of Durham Fire and Rescue on her door, who were there to evacuate people in the Rippling Stream Townhomes complex. The homes off North Duke Street are in front of the Eno River, which flooded late Sunday night and inundated Roxboro and Rippling Stream roads.
As of early Monday morning, over 80 people had been rescued by boat, and dozens more had been evacuated on foot, according to the Durham Fire Department.
“We saw a dog floating in the water, I don’t know if it was dead or alive,” Rivera said. “You saw the fire department knocking on doors, breaking down doors, trying to get people out. Something that you never see.”
“We left around 2:30 a.m. and came back around six,” she said. “We weren’t prepared to wake up to this.”
Rivera was one of the few residents along Rippling Stream Road whose home didn’t get flooded, but water stood just steps from her back door late Monday morning, and to protect residents, Duke Energy had cut the power to several townhomes in the area.
“We took a chance coming back home. ... My phone died, I have no portable charger,” Rivera said. “I just went shopping and I have meat in the refrigerator. We don’t know how long we’re going to be without power.”
Tropical Storm Chantal brought tornadoes and flooding to North Carolina on Sunday. Along with Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro saw extreme flooding. Durham’s areas of High Meadow Road, Omega Road, Felicia Street, and Greymont Drive were also impacted by flooding.
The Durham Fire Department said two maydays were called late Sunday night: one for an overturned boat and the other for a boat that was forced into trees by the current and got trapped there.
No injuries or deaths were reported due to flooding in Durham, but people were still trapped in the homes and rescue teams were getting calls to check on elderly residents, said Dave Parker, a battalion chief with the Durham Fire Department.
‘Very unfortunate’
Christina Bowens has lived in the Rippling Stream Townhomes for about six years and has seen the parking lot flood before from a sewer break and heavy rain, but nothing like the flooding on Sunday.
She was out driving for DoorDash when she came home around 2 a.m. and saw dozens of fire trucks and emergency vehicles.
“An officer told me that I couldn’t drive into the parking lot,” she said. “My dog was in the home, so it was important to me to get my dog. The police department went in and they didn’t see her; that made me really anxious to possibly see my dog floating.”
The water reached Bowens’ front door and flooded the entire parking lot in front. Dozens of cars were submerged, many showing only their roof. When she managed to get into her home, she found her dog, Coco, under her bed “terrified.”
“This is very unfortunate,” she said.
Like many renters in the complex, she is covered by renters’ insurance and was told by the property manager that the plan is for all residents who had to be evacuated to be moved into vacant townhomes on the property or to a hotel.
“Last night was a sight that you would see on TV, how my neighbors were crying, moving with the items that they were able to hold in their hands. It was a lot,” Bowens said. “Life is already hard, so this is just another thing we have to get through.”
One of her neighbors, Raymond Culver, was packing up his car with some items to stay with a friend for a few hours. His home didn’t get damaged by the flooding, but without power, the home was hot.
“I’ve been working all night and just want to get some rest,” Culver said.
Mayor Leonardo Williams was out at the Rippling Stream Townhomes getting a glimpse of the flooding along Rippling Stream Road. Mailboxes and sidewalks were under water, and the city’s Water Rescue squad was taking another boat to find another resident inundated.
“It wasn’t long ago when we just experienced Western North Carolina being shredded,” he said. “When I saw the flash flood coming, that’s what gave me extreme anxiety. No one is hidden from this, and this is a pretty hard hit.”
Williams said anyone who has concerns about flooding in their area or needs help should call 1-800-Red-Cross as the agency is working with the city’s rescue efforts, relief and shelters.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Durham residents recount evacuating after the Eno River flooded their homes."