Triangle dries out after Hanna's flooding
While much North Carolina cleaned up from Tropical Storm Hanna, one Moore County community remained cut off by flood waters, and flooding along some rivers was still a concern.
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Worried about the possibility of water contamination, state officials said Saturday they are also watching for flooding along the Neuse River near a water treatment plant in Johnston County.
Hanna left some of its most dramatic damage in Moore County, where rains washed away a road that serves as the only access to the Riverbend Community in Vass, trapping hundreds of people Saturday night.
On Sunday, the water rushing through the neighborhood was inches from some houses.
State Forestry Service laid down a portable log mat bridge over Autumn Drive for emergency vehicles. Patty McQuillan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said that bridge would stay in place until a permnant one could be built.
However, McQuillan said it was too soon to know when work on the new bridge might begin.
Moore County officials said the road is private property and is not the responsibility of the county or state.
Ligon Middle School will be closed Monday due to a power line failure related to Hanna, Wake County Public Schools officials said in an e-mail Sunday. Power should be restored and Ligon returned to its normal schedule by Tuesday.
A Raleigh homeowner began getting a fallen tree removed from her front lawn – and the back of her Lexus sedan.
Winds and rains toppled the tree along Woodburn Road, near Cameron Village, Saturday morning. The tree also brought down a power line, and residents said a transformer exploded around the same time.
"It was a loud explosion and, you know, the big bright lights," Ben Pinkerton said. "But when we were out here, we're looking at the power lines, and you could see the transformers explode kind of going down toward Cameron Village.
By Sunday, flood waters in other areas of central and eastern North Carolina were receding or already dry.
Homeowners returned to Rose Lane, where a foot of Walnut Creek flowed over the road and threatened to trap in residents of 40 homes once authorities closed the dead-in street. About two dozens residents left overnight.
Chawtha Prince said she was the first to get in her car and leave after authorities warned residents. Prince found soot and debris on her front yard when she returned home.
Prince pointed to the source of the neighborhood's troubles: "A pond over there. Normally, it's dry, but yesterday it was flooded."
Hanna sent bands of heavy rain throughout eastern and central North Carolina dropping anywhere from 2 to nearly 6 inches. Raleigh received 5.19 inches of rain; Chapel Hill, 4.96 inches; Fayetteville, 4.61 inches; and Goldsboro 2.39 inches, according to official rainfall totals from the National Weather Service.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ike was expected to move over eastern Cuba Sunday night and into central Cuba by late Monday on a track that will likely take it over the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico.
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