BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — Images coming out of popular vacation spots like Carolina Beach, Oak Island and Southport are shocking. Some areas are dealing with historic flooding, at levels only seen every thousand years.
Carolina Beach was one of the hardest hit areas, dealing with more than 18 inches of rain in a 24-hour time period.
People with ties to the Triad said they knew the rain was coming but had no idea it would be this bad.
Sierra Ezzell is originally from Winston-Salem. She now lives in Oak Island. When it started getting bad out Monday, she left her job in Leland to make it back to the island. What is normally a 35-minute commute turned into a several hours long fight to get back home. After sitting in traffic, running into several flooded roads, and trying to find cut thru's, she was forced to spend the night in her car.
"I just put my sun visor up and there was plenty of lighting around the church. So, that kind of helped calm me down a little. But sleeping in a car was interesting because you wake up every five minutes wondering like, ok, hopefully a bear doesn't try to get in my car. Then I woke up when the light hit my car and I was like, ok, time to try again," Ezzell recalled.
Lara Clarke is a few miles down the road in Boiling Spring Lakes. The Greensboro resident was in Wilmington helping take care of her dad when the storm hit. She is now stuck, unable to get to her dad and sister.
"I can't go anywhere. The roads are washed out. Hopefully some of the water will start subsiding, but a lot of the county sheriff's department have posted all the road closings around me so I can't get out," explained Clarke.
Governor Roy Cooper's office released a report Monday, it said the State Highway Patrol and transportation officials are working to respond to road closures. As of Monday morning, about 45 roadways across the state were closed due to storm impacts.
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