Heavy rainstorms from Tropical Storm Fred caused flooding in Cherokee and surrounding counties, landslides in the Nantahala Gorge and power outages across the region last week.
The rains started Aug. 17, when a home off U.S. 64 West in Brasstown was left surrounded by flood water, resulting in a woman being transported to safety by the Swift Water Rescue Team. Clay County Fire & Rescue workers were touring the county to check out the state of the weather situation when they came upon a home “totally surrounded by water,” assistant fire chief Chris Denton said. “It was about waist deep.”
Fortunately, the home was built on stilts, and the Swift Water Rescue Team had been on standby. Team members set up a rigging system, using a rope that had already been tied off from the shoreline to her house as an anchor point to guide a rubber raft, which took the woman to dry ground.
Nearly a foot of rain fell over three days in western North Carolina. In response, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a State of Emergency on Aug. 18 to activate the state’s emergency operations plan and waive transportation rules to help first responders and the agriculture industry.
“This state of emergency will allow our first responders to get into our affected communities quickly to save lives, restore power, remove debris and bring supplies,” Cooper said. “North Carolina is strong and resilient, and we’re committed to helping people and businesses recover as quickly as possible.”
Cooper personally surveyed flood damage in Canton last week. Two deaths have been reported, and about 20 people remain unaccounted for in Haywood County.
Attorney General Josh Stein reminded residents that North Carolina’s price gouging law is in effect with the State of Emergency. Report potential price gouging by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or by filing a complaint online at https://ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint/price-gouging.
Some of the worst damage occurred in the busy Nantahala Gorge, which was hit by three landslides on Aug. 17, forcing U.S. 19/74 to be closed in both directions for a day. N.C. Department of Transportation officials said 60 loads of debris was removed from road in tandem-axle dump trucks in order to reopen the highway, which is busy with tourists all summer.
Officials said the largest of the three landslides was on the western end of the gorge near Ferebee Park. About 70 DOT workers from across the state came to western North Carolina last week to clear landslides, restore roads and unclog drainage systems.
Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp. reported trees down on power lines in Brasstown, Pinelog and Tusquittee, with three poles broken in their system – one each in Cherokee, Clay and Towns counties. There were 3,764 outages out of the 57,297 total served throughout its service territory.
Local residents showed their concern for people affected by the flooding in a variety of ways. Several held prayer vigils with their churches.
The Hiwassee Dam Volunteer Fire Department and Hiwassee Dam Schools collected items like food, drinks and toiletries through Thursday, when the items were taken to Lake Junaluska Baptist Church to be dispensed to those in need. The Cherokee County Republican Party also collected items to be sent to Haywood County, with Dallas and Connor McMillan of Unaka helping with the donation drive.
The Clay County Progress contributed to this report.