Gov. Roy Cooper warns North Carolina residents of worst flooding since Hurricane Matthew

Several days of heavy rain have resulted in dangerous flooding across the Carolinas this week, causing road closures, water rescues and rivers to rise above flood stage.

The persistent rain was the product of a slow-moving firehose of subtropical moisture, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

“In the past 24 hours, we’ve seen rainfall like we haven’t seen since Hurricane Matthew,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said on Tuesday.

While the rain is gone, it can still take several days before all rivers drop below flood stage in the Carolinas and southern Virginia.

Major flooding was observed along the Neuse River in the towns of Clayton and Smithfield as of 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

Officials recovered a body from the Neuse on Tuesday, but it remains unclear if the death is due to the weather, according to ABC News.

The Cashie River near Windsor will experience significant flooding through Thursday and that could impact properties in low-lying areas, officials said.

The National Weather Service said major river flooding is possible for the Tar River by late this weekend and into early next week.

In Elkin, North Carolina, the Yadkin River approached moderate flood stage after rising from nearly 5 feet to 20 feet from Sunday night into Monday.

“With rain like this, small creeks and streams can suddenly become raging torrents,” Cooper said. “Avoid flooded roads, heed warnings from emergency officials, and be prepared to evacuate quickly if you’re asked to.”

Street flooding was reported around Raleigh on Tuesday morning and across the state. State officials said there were over 100 storm-related road closures.

More than 8 inches of rain has fallen in Raleigh since Sunday morning. A normal rainfall for the entire month of April is 2.39 inches.

Raleigh recorded 4.51 inches of rain on Monday alone, making it the wettest April day in the city's history. The previous record was 3.37 inches set on April 26, 1978.

Wilmington, North Carolina, also experienced its wettest April day on Monday when the city recorded 3.67 inches of rain.

The News & Observer in Raleigh reported that the Raleigh Fire Department conducted a water rescue early Tuesday morning. The rescue took place at a home in East Raleigh, where a woman and three children were trapped by rising water.

The rain caused disruptions to the morning rush hour, and several motorists also had to be rescued from their cars, according to ABC 11.

Law enforcement officials throughout the Triangle region urged motorists to avoid driving through floodwaters.

Duke Energy listed more than 12,000 customers without power during the overnight hours in the Raleigh area, but that number diminished through Tuesday morning.

Heavy rain also brought flooding to Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday. With a total of 3.06 inches, downtown Charleston set a new daily rainfall record. The old record was 1.12 inches.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Large portion of Wake Forest Rd under water from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raleigh?src=hash">#Raleigh</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Flooding?src=hash">#Flooding</a> <a href="https://t.co/HPmJ84YyB3">pic.twitter.com/HPmJ84YyB3</a></p>&mdash; Mackenzie King (@MackenzieKing97) <a href="https://twitter.com/MackenzieKing97/status/856839393180606466">April 25, 2017</a></blockquote> //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</center>

Report a Typo