ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — The mayor and emergency crews in Haw River are going door to door asking people who live near the river to leave as a precaution. This comes as the river is expected to crest Friday morning around 2:00 a.m.
To be clear, this is not a mandatory evacuation, it is just a precaution.
This is a first-time voluntary evacuation request for the area. The mayor, along with fire and police officials are encouraging people to leave. The knocking began on Lang Street, in total, officials knocked on about 30 doors.
Again, the evacuation is not mandatory but is strongly recommended.
"It's not just that emergency medical cannot reach you if you do have an emergency. There could be high winds power lines falling, an active power line on the ground and there is water. You could be without power for a while. For people who have CPAPS or oxygen, it would be a danger for them also," explained Haw River Mayor, Kelly Allen.
Allen warns they cannot reach residents once the road floods.
Some residents are choosing to ride out the storm while others are planning to stay in a hotel. Alamance County is willing to provide a hotel room for those who need a place to stay for the night.
Carolina Escobar moved to the area 6 months ago. She appreciates how proactive the town is being.
"We’re a little scared because this is the first time we’ve seen this. We’re not for sure if we’re going to be leaving or not," Escobar said. "It’s really nice they came out to let us know what's happening because we’ve never experienced this kind of weather before.”
The Voluntary evacuation wasn't enough to convince Charles Baiz to leave.
“I think I’m going to ride it out I just don’t think it’ll get anywhere near as bad as Florida," Baiz said.
Mayor Allen said she hopes people heed their warning and take this weather threat seriously.
"We were mostly concerned that if someone had an emergency or something happened in the middle of the night and they need EMS we couldn’t get to them because of flooding at the Red Slide Park," Allen said.
The town of Haw River said they are working with Alamance County agencies to monitor the flood risk.
Down the road from Haw River sits the Little Alamance Creek. The creek runs through Burlington City Park. The park was closed Thursday due to flooding.
Park softball fields, and bridges were completely under water Thursday morning. As the rain cleared Thursday afternoon the water receded.
Burlington officials were also worried for other areas in the city. A high-water sign was placed along Chapel Hill Road in front of the Roll 'A' Bout.
"Water comes normally into our lobby area. So, we have to get rags and rugs and stuff ready for that. So, we did get a little prepared for that. We have to get the brooms and stuff ready and get that area swept off and the wind is actually blowing so the water is kind of flowing on the porch," said Roll 'A' Bout manager, Amber Myatt.
As far as storm damage goes, a tree was also down along Shamrock Drive in Alamance County. Neighbors said the tree snapped around 5:30 a.m. Thursday. The tree has since been cut and moved off the roadway.
A spokesperson for the City of Burlington said they received about 25 calls for service Thursday. This includes calls for downed trees, traffic signals, and minor roadway flooding.
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