1-year-old boy among 5 dead after flood overtakes dozens of sleeping campers in NC
A 1-year-old boy is among the five people who died when fast rising floodwaters overtook the Hiddenite Family Campground in Alexander County before dawn Thursday.
Thirty-one people were rescued from the 30-acre campground, which is located along the South Yadkin River, about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte, Alexander County officials said.
The boy’s body was recovered by a search team around 4 p.m. Friday at the campground, officials said.
The five dead were identified as: Crystal Dawn LeVan Reed, 49; Tyrell Jordan “Ty” Reed, 18; Tina Ann Allen, 52; Ronald James Wintemute, 76, and Mason Lee Flowers, age 1. All were from Hiddenite, officials said.
One of the adults was found in a flooded camper, Alexander County Sheriff Chris Bowman said at a news conference. Details of the other recoveries have not been released.
Video from the scene posted Thursday on Twitter showed rushing water was waist-deep and higher outside some structures.
Up to 10 inches of rain fell overnight in Alexander County and flooding washed away at least four bridges, officials said.
At least nine people died across the state during the storm, including three traffic fatalities in the Charlotte region: In Alexander County, a driver ran off the road and into flood water; and in Iredell County, a Ford Ranger “hydroplaned” across NC 115 into another vehicle, killing two people, the N.C. Highway Patrol said.
“Multiple water rescues” took place across the region Thursday, as heavy rain fell across North Carolina. Just under 5 inches of rain had fallen by noon Thursday at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Charlotte Fire Department officials reports 143 people had to be rescued after a charter school flooded on David Taylor Drive. No injuries were reported.
The department received multiple reports of flooding around Charlotte, including four lanes of Interstate 85 at the Little Rock Road exit. The interstate lanes were expected to stay closed until around noon Thursday, the NCDOT said.
The rain was blamed for mudslides, flash flooding and power outages in nearby counties. Several instances of vehicles going into creeks were also reported, including a submerged car in the Mooresville area of Iredell County. A person was reportedly in the vehicle and rescue crews were responding, Iredell Firewire reported in a tweet shortly after 9 a.m.
Conover officials said on Twitter that rescuers are also responding to reports of a car that went over a bridge on County Home Road in Alexander County’s Wittenburg community. Alexander County is about 65 miles southwest of Winston-Salem.
The N.C. Department of Transportation announced around 2 p.m. that multiple sections of Interstate 95 were closed due to flooding, including both directions in Wilson County and 5 miles in Johnston County where the pavement buckled.
Alexander County Schools reported some of its school buildings were flooded, forcing it to resort to virtual classes Thursday. Catawba County Schools officials said they would also go virtual due to flooding and power outages. Meanwhile, Caldwell County Schools will be on a two-hour delay due to “mudslides and flash flooding in the area.”
A flood watch is in effect until 7 p.m. for much of the western part of North Carolina, with heavy rain expected through midday, forecasters say.
More than 4 inches of rain was reported at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, between 6 and 10 a.m. Thursday, the most in any single day in 2020.
The National Weather Service warns “creeks and streams may come out of their banks and quickly flood roadways,” making some areas impassable. Up to 6 inches of rain has fallen in some areas, reported the Charlotte Observer’s news partner WBTV.
Steve Lyttle contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 7:29 AM.