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Neuse Will Be the Next Waterway to Flood

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GOLDSBORO — People living downstream from Raleigh are preparing for more trouble. Flood waters will flow into the Neuse over the next few days and start the trip down east. Residents in flood-prone zones are preparing for what could be the fourth flood there this year.

Like hundreds of people who live in the low-lying areas of Wayne County, Frank Kornegay has endured an unusual winter. Water from the nearby Neuse River has surrounded his home four times since January. He says it's the worst he's seen since he moved in eight years ago.

Kornegay and his family asked for help last week after the river rose two feet higher than expected. Now, even more water is on the way from an overnight downpour upstream.

Emergency management says water from the Triangle typically takes three to five days to get to much of western Wayne county. Officials say it's tough to get much more specific than that becuause the Neuse tends to rise and fall differently after every significant rain.

Kornegay says he's not sure if El Nino is to blame, or if this is just a wet winter, but he says he does know that if the river threatens again he's ready to pack up and leave once more.

Kornegay says in spite of this year's floods, he's not worried about losing money because he took out flood insurance right after Hurricane Fran. He says damage from that storm cost him $60,000, almost all of which was his own money.

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