Chapel Hill man escaped flood, only to die after 1st night in his new apartment
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- Flooding at Camelot Village displaced Dale Weldele and other residents in July.
- Weldele died of a heart attack one day after moving into new housing in Carrboro.
- Family requested Weldele’s belongings be donated to residents still in need.
Dale Weldele was a tough guy with a soft heart who lived for 20-foot waves and being in nature, family and friends said, but losing his leg and then his Chapel Hill home may have been too much for the California native.
Weldele died Thursday after a heart attack at UNC Hospitals. The 72-year-old from San Diego had lived for the last six weeks at the Comfort Inn in Durham, where he and other Camelot Village residents found refuge after a July 6 flood.
Weldele spoke about his experience at an Aug. 20 press conference and his desire to see the town and Orange County do more to fix repeated flooding at the complex before someone gets killed.
On Wednesday, he spent the first and only night in his new home at the Carolina Spring Senior Apartments in Carrboro.
The next day, when his heart wouldn’t stop racing, he called for help, Triangle Mutual Aid organizer Devin Gilgor said. After getting his pastor, Clain Anderson, to come take care of his dog, Weldele went to UNC Hospitals’ emergency room to get checked out.
Medical staff got him stabilized, but then he suffered a fatal heart attack, Gilgor said Saturday.
Weldele’s family has asked that his canned foods, furniture and other supplies left behind be distributed to residents still in need, he said.
“What a crappy last seven weeks to get handed, really, but (Weldele) was positive the whole time,” Gilgor said. “He brought a lot of compassion to the other residents. He was sort of always positive — a let’s look on the bright side, and let’s find the silver lining sort of guy.”
Weldele was a surfer, Sunday school teacher
His father was born in Minnesota, but grew up in San Diego, Brian Weldele said. He was a retired roofing contractor who had traveled the world looking for big waves and winning multiple surfing championships over the years, his son said.
As a boy, time spent with his father was “always camping, fishing, doing something outdoors,” he said, recalling a particular surfing trip to Bali, where Weldele wiped out on a wave, hurting his back on the coral reefs. He was determined to keep going, his son said.
“We traveled quite a bit, and he would always try to find out the biggest, best-shaped waves that he could,” Brian Weldele said. “I watched him one time surf — man, it must have been close to 20-foot surf — in Todos Santos, Mexico. It was pretty incredible to watch.”
In 2023, his father and stepmother Isabel moved to Chapel Hill, and his father converted to Mormonism, joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on his 70th birthday in 2023, Anderson said.
He was an active member of the church, serving as a youth Sunday school teacher and in other roles, Anderson said.
“He really cared about his family,” Anderson said. “And he was a real contributor in terms of our local church congregation. He felt very happy being able to teach the youth and help them that way.”
Losing his leg before the storm
Isabel, who met Weldele through their mutual passion for surfing, died in February 2024. Weldele remained in Chapel Hill, staying in touch with his family by phone. Their last in-person visit was at Thanksgiving, Brian Weldele said.
He recalled how his father made the difficult decision this year to have his leg amputated.
It caught them all off guard, Brian Weldele said, but there had been multiple knee surgeries over the last 20 years, and when one joint developed a serious infection, his father had to make a choice.
“That was pretty devastating for him, you know, as somebody who really prides himself on being an outdoorsman and somebody who identifies as a surfer,” Brian Weldele said. “That was an incredibly challenging time, and he was pretty determined for a while to figure out how to surf with the prosthetic.”
Tropical Storm Chantal also tested his resolve, Weldele said previously, when several inches of rain fell on Chapel Hill in less than an hour, sending Bolin Creek surging over its banks and into the low-lying apartments at Camelot Village.
Weldele described at the press conference how he tried to escape with his dog, only to see the water wash away his prosthetic leg. They survived only because neighbors stepped in to help, he said.
“I’m on one leg with crutches, trying to make it to the stairs,” he said. “By the grace of God, I made it there, lost everything. There was four feet of water in the apartment.”
Camelot Village resident Heather Gibbs, one of several people still waiting to move into a new apartment, said she was shocked to hear her neighbor had died. It’s another blow for Camelot Village residents, many of whom are still suffering, she said.
“It’s tough on days like this when you get the news,” Gibbs said.
Weldele is survived by a daughter, grandchildren, and a brother and sister, his son said. His sister-in-law is taking care of his dog, Anderson said.
The family has not announced funeral plans, but his son suggested those who want to make a donation in his memory could reach out to Triangle Mutual Aid or to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM.
