Community steps up for flooded Hillsborough school, salon and home for the arts
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Flooding from Tropical Storm Chantal damaged homes, schools & businesses in Hillsborough.
- Local fundraisers and donations support reopening efforts for schools, artists and salons.
- Hillsborough approved $2.3M in recovery spending; FEMA funding cuts sparked lawsuits.
Kutz Unlimited owner Deanna Bass didn’t have a grand opening when she started her Hillsborough hair salon 11 years ago, but she’s going to have one when the shop reopens later this summer.
Remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal dropped 5-10 inches of water across Orange County on July 6, sending the Eno River surging over its banks into the lower sections of the 138-year-old Eno River Mill. The former cotton mill is now home to businesses, the Orange County Arts Commission, and The Expedition School, a charter school for grades K-8.
Bass, 51, learned of the flood when a client called to tell her about damage at The Expedition School and ask if she was OK. On July 8, she arrived to find her shop muddy from being under water. The mill’s wooden floors had buckled, blocking the doors to one room.
Bass was able to save her scissors and hair products, but nothing else, she said.
“I was just devastated when I walked in there,” Bass said. “I was trying to hold it together, but when I walked in there, it was like, oh, my God.”
A client has started a GoFundMe campaign to help her reopen, one of many fundraisers launched in Orange County after the storm.
Expedition School relocates classes
Multiple charter schools, businesses and residents have reached out since up to 6 feet of water filled the classrooms of their Lower School, said Tammy Finch, director of The Expedition School, which sits just a few hundred feet from the Eno River.
After getting the call early Monday morning that parts of the school were still underwater, Finch arrived to find a fish swimming in one of the classrooms. She put it back in the river, which was receding but still only a few feet from the school’s front door.
“The river rushed in so much that it took items from one end of the school and pushed them, and then as it receded so quickly, it pulled items back,” Finch said, leaving items strewn from the office to the kindergarten and all the way out the door to the garden.
Last week, about 200 people came out to clean up damaged books and furnishings, and spray the mud off plastic classroom chairs. Local businesses dropped off Dumpsters, replacing them as quickly as they filled up, added Randi Russell, a school support specialist.
A fundraiser has raised nearly $79,000 toward their $250,000 goal, and they are also managing a donation drive for classroom supplies. The fall semester will start on Aug. 25 — about a month late — with K-4 classes in a temporary, 11,000-square-foot space at the mill.
“People who aren’t even connected to the school have come by and just said we want to help,” Finch said, including a mom and her son who wanted to donate because he had competed against the school’s students in ultimate Frisbee and soccer.
“People just really want to step up and support, and that’s just really heartwarming to see,” Finch said.
Hillsborough OKs recovery spending
The July 6 storm killed one person and injured nine others, Orange County emergency officials have said, and has caused an estimated $56 million in damages. Over 200 homes, dozens of businesses, and an untold number of cars were destroyed or damaged.
Damage to Hillsborough’s Gold Park and Riverwalk trails could take a few weeks to repair, town officials said this week. The cost to repair the Riverwalk boardwalk is $12,000, and the town is also considering a future stormwater drainage project near Riverwalk and Eno Mountain Road.
The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners met Wednesday to approve spending up to $1.3 million over the next two years to replace 10 solid waste and public works vehicles that were flooded. The total cost is $2.3 million, some of which will be covered by insurance.
Hillsborough also paid $25,500 for 7.5 million gallons of water from Durham while its water customers were under boil-water and conservation advisories. The storm flooded the Elizabeth Brady wastewater treatment plant and the River Pump Station, which sits in a low-lying area that is prone to flooding.
The town had plans to move the pump station to higher ground and improve the town’s water and sewer efficiency with a $7 million grant from FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. But the money fell through in April when the Department of Government Efficiency — then led by Elon Musk — cut federal funding to numerous programs and organizations.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 19 other states Wednesday who are suing FEMA over that decision, which cost North Carolina a $200 million federal investment in communities and infrastructure.
Arts Commission, events raising money
The Eno River has never flooded the mill before, said Katie Murray, who is director of the Orange County Arts Commission, which manages the Eno Arts Mill and local arts grant programs.
She’s also executive director of the nonprofit Orange County Arts Alliance.
The arts mill opened in 2021 with the goal of making “it a different type of space,” said Murray, a self-described “former weird art kid.” It’s now home to 15 artist studios, classes and exhibits, and has become a safe space for LGBTQ teens to find community. Everything in the building was donated or purchased with donations or with funding from the county’s hotel occupancy tax.
“The arts a lot of times can be exclusive and not welcoming to all people, and that hurts my heart,” Murray said. “I feel like the arts are part of humanity, and I wanted a place where everybody feels like they’re welcome, and we achieved that.”
But on July 7, Murray arrived to find about three feet of water and a pallet of beer purchased for events floating in the lobby. The worst was seeing local artists’ work floating in the water, she said.
The county will help them rebuild, but won’t replace the lost art, supplies or equipment, Murray said, which is why they are raising money to help — $40,000 so far — and planning an auction for August and September.
The Common Good Mutual Aid Auction was originally planned to support artists in Western North Carolina, but after Chantal, roughly 80% of the money will now help local artists replace damaged studios, housing, supplies and cars. The rest of the money will go to the nonprofit ArtsCenter.
They’re looking for artists who can donate up to three works for the auction, which will be held Aug. 15-Sept. 22 at The ArtsCenter and online, Murray said. An opening event will be held from 6-9 p.m. Aug. 15 at The ArtsCenter.
On Aug. 1, the Arts Commission will also kick off the second Uproar Festival of Public Art with a gathering at Eno River Brewing, also located in the mill. The monthlong, outdoor festival features 20 artworks each in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough.
“We thought long and hard about canceling ... but we felt like it was needed before this because of the state of the country and the world, and we need joy, we need community,” Murray said. “But especially after this devastation across the county, we really need it now to just get our minds off everything and have something fun and accessible and free.”
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This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Community steps up for flooded Hillsborough school, salon and home for the arts."
