NC mountain towns wrecked by deadly flood. Residents pick up the pieces.
The mud that covered the floors of Donella Pressley’s house had formed a sheen by Thursday morning. Except where she had stepped, the mud covered nearly every inch of the floor in every room, every inch of the back patio, every inch of every one of her possessions that was knocked into the water.
Crying in what was a tidy kitchen just three days ago, she remembered the harrowing minutes of her evacuation — water rising at a speed that seemed almost unbelievable.
The water that tore through Pressley’s home on Tuesday, caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred, killed at least two people and has left 20 more missing as of Thursday, according to officials with Haywood County Emergency Services. The identities of the deceased have not yet been released.
Emergency crews from around the state are on the ground to assist local personnel from the small towns that make up this part of the Blue Ridge Mountains region. The area is popular with tourists, campers and hikers, known for its scenic mountain views and beautiful rivers.
But on Thursday, crews were searching for people who went missing shortly after the Pigeon River had crested its banks. Haywood County Emergency Services director Travis Donaldson said a search mission is underway by close to 200 personnel, along 47 miles of riverbank.
“Forty-seven miles of riverbank that we’re going to have to look for, potentially, victims in the river that were washed down,” he said.
The damage is far-reaching, and Gov. Roy Cooper, who arrived Thursday in the area, has issued a state of emergency order for affected counties, aimed at activating funds and resources for relief and recovery. Floodwaters carried away storage sheds, dumpsters, cars and furniture. The areas of Canton, Bethel and Cruso in Haywood County were hit especially hard.
At her home in Bethel, Pressley said she scrambled to get at least some of her possessions out in time after picking up her daughter from school. She loaded up two suitcases and came back into her house for a third, hoping to salvage family photos. She managed to get some of the photos out, but the water was already up to her thigh and she was forced to flee with her two young girls.
On Thursday, two members of her church, Matt Pruett and Keith Farley, arrived to assess the damage.
“We’ll get this took care of,” Pruett said, as they hugged amid the mud and chaos of her home.
The senior pastor of Faith Community Church, Pruett told Pressley a team of volunteers had already assembled and was getting ready to come help. “There’s no telling how many people are going to descend on your house.”
“It’s a mess but it won’t stay that way,” he said.
“I hope not,” she replied.
“It won’t,” Pruett said.
Flood in N.C. mountains
At least 500 families have been displaced in Haywood County, including some who lived in mobile homes that were swept away, officials said on Thursday.
Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said residents were digging through the mud, by hand, of flooded properties looking for loved ones who have been missing since the waters rose.
“This is a hurricane-sized disaster,” he said Thursday during a news conference. “But I do know the governor, his folks and other partners in Raleigh, we are prepared to do what is necessary to move us forward.”
In Canton, the buildings for town hall, the police department and fire department have been severely damaged, along with many homes and businesses.
Efforts to find missing people are hampered by “significant damage to roads and bridges, especially in Cruso, with at least 10-15 bridges damaged or destroyed.”
One of those roads, Max Thompson Road in Bethel, saw huge chunks of asphalt peeled off its surface and deposited 50 feet away. A bridge is covered with every kind of debris imaginable: corn stalks, a bathtub, tree limbs, clothes, a package of Ramen noodles.
Trying to evacuate from a nearby home, 12-year-old Evan Moffitt was swept off his feet and the water took him.
“We’re lucky that this one is not gone,” said Frances Baxley, his great-grandmother, pointing at Moffitt as he shoveled mud off the driveway. “We thought we had lost him, but by the grace of God he got to where he could stand up.”
As the water rose, it brought debris with it. Trees, limbs and everything else the water could carry pushed up against the bridge and were lodged there, creating a dam. The water breached the bank and roared down the road, filling up fields and surrounding the homes there.
Baxley watched as sheds bobbed in the torrent, smashing into the bridge with explosive force.
By midnight Tuesday, the water had mostly receded, leaving behind a layer of mud six to eight inches deep that covered whole acres.
At the football and softball fields next to Canton Middle School, the principal, Casey Kruk, tallied the damage. The fence was knocked down, the bleachers overturned, the concession stand full of mud. An overturned dumpster sat a couple feet away — he didn’t know where it came from.
Heidi Morgan, Pisgah High School’s athletic director, looked over the football field. The new turf, installed about a year ago, was severely torn. The fencing was destroyed. Debris was scattered about. Dead fish floated in puddles. A waterlogged Bible was placed along the 50-yard line.
“They were looking forward to a normal year,” Morgan said of the students. “On the second day of school that was ripped away from them.”
Cooper, at a news conference with local officials, promised state support and help to provide immediate relief for devastated communities and long-term aid to “rebuild stronger.” He said his office is in touch with FEMA and North Carolina is looking for federal assistance for the western region.
“It’s very difficult to measure the damage to people’s hearts, people’s minds. Seeing their beloved homes and businesses, school area, athletic fields damaged by water. What we know is this, we’re going to help rebuild this area,” the governor said Thursday.
Donaldson said many of the homes destroyed or now inaccessible due to flooding belonged to first responders who work and live in the Canton and Cruso areas of the county. In some cases, homes were washed off the building’s foundation.
“Those are our families, our first responders, our sheriff’s deputies, our paramedics,” Donaldson said. “Just pray that we never have to do this again.”
Mark Price and Hayley Fowler contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 2:21 PM with the headline "NC mountain towns wrecked by deadly flood. Residents pick up the pieces.."
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