A routine trip to a prayer service on Monday morning became a fight to survive after Tropical Depression Chantal’s rapid floodwaters overtook her car.
As Kamalini Darling was driving to her temple on Ben Johnston Road at 4:30 a.m., she went over what she thought was a puddle near the Dimmick’s Mill bridge. The puddle ended up being several feet deep.
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“Then my car stopped. My car spun and I thought, Oh, it's bad,” Darling.
The tropical system ripped through North Carolina on Sunday, bringing several inches of rain and spawning tornadoes. Some of the hardest hit areas included Chatham, Orange, Moore and Durham counties.
Water from the Eno River was quickly rising above the pavement. The 72-year-old thought to roll down her window in case she would need to escape, as she was no longer able to drive her car.
That’s when water started gushing into her car and flowing over her face.
“It’s very, very strong the force of the water, and so I had to use my feet to propel myself out the window,” Darling said. “I went down under I thought I was going to drown because it was you know it was kind of deep and I, but then I came above the water and I just continuously called out to the Lord.”
She vigorously swam to an embankment and pulled herself out of the water. She found a house in the woods, where a woman let her inside and gave her dry clothes and a warm shower while the two of them waited for the water to recede.
“Itwas all one big river, like you could not distinguish between the road and the river, the Eno River,” Darling said.
Flooding safety tips:
- Do not enter any moving water – on foot or in a vehicle. Just a few inches of fast-moving flood water can knock you off of your feet. Two feet of water will float most cars and wash them away. Most flood deaths occur in automobiles. When approaching water flowing overthe road, turn around and go the other way. Don't drown; turn around.
- Make sure your homeowners' or renters' insurance has a flood policy. Know your area's flood risk. Many policies do not cover flooding, and many areas across North Carolina are subject to flooding, although not officially declared within a flood plain.
- Asses your residence's flood risk and know where you would go if you needed to evacuate. Sometimes your escape route can flood before your house.
- If a flash flood warning is issued, it is time to take action. Flooding has been reported or is imminent. Closely monitor the situation, and move quickly if flood waters threaten. If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Move to a safe location before access is cut off by flood waters.
- Never allow children to play around high water, creeks, streams or storm drains.