Blog

Jun 20, 2023

Rain, flooding wreak havoc

Roads blocked, some schools close, power out for many Flood waters made driving treacherous in some parts of Surry County Monday morning. (Samantha Turner | Mount Airy News) A look toward the Hamburg

Roads blocked, some schools close, power out for many

Flood waters made driving treacherous in some parts of Surry County Monday morning. (Samantha Turner | Mount Airy News)

A look toward the Hamburg Street bridge that crosses the Ararat River shows the extent of the flooding. Just visible in the center is the circular mirror used by those on the Greenway to see what is coming around the corner toward them. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

Hamburg Street leading from. H.B. Rowe Environmental Park to Mount Airy Middle School was blocked by flood waters. NC DOT is seen arriving on the other side of the washout to gauge the level. Mount Airy Police were along shortly thereafter to further restrict access to Hamburg Street. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

The Greenway is seen from Mount Airy Public Works. In this photo there is evidence of branches and trash compacted against the fence that shows the force with which the water was moving through. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

As seen from the parking lot of Mount Airy Public Works, a sign attached to the bridge East Pine Street uses to cross the Ararat River is seen. The waters were up and the current was moving briskly Monday morning as parts of downtown Mount Airy still were without power. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

The parking lot of Riverside Park was almost a wet and muddy mess Monday morning. Parts of the lot not underwater were covered in a thick slimy mud that clung to everything. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

Pieces of the skate park at Riverside Park in Mount Airy remained above the flood waters Monday morning. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

Riverside Park in Mount Airy was essentially submerged Monday morning with these gates closed to prevent entry to the park. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

An entryway into H.B. Rowe Environmental Park off Hamburg Street is blocked by the waters of the Ararat River in Mount Airy, Monday, August 28. (Ryan Kelly | Mount Airy News)

While overnight showers in and around Mount Airy were heavy, area residents still were surprised by the floodwaters which left some streets impassible and caused enough power outages to leave nearly 1,300 county residents and businesses without electricity.

The flooding and power outages also sent local school officials scrambling, with Mount Airy school officials closing both Mount Airy High School and Middle School, while Surry County Schools closed Flat Rock Elementary School.

Meteorologist Nick Fillo, with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Virginia, said rainfall totals in Mount Airy were “impressive” at 2 to 3 inches, but the main culprit behind the flooding was rainfall across the border in Virginia.

“Right along the Blue Ridge in southern Carroll County and Patrick County, we had 4 to 7 inches of rain, with some locally heavier rainfall,” he said. “The heaviest rain fell across Patrick, but it did get as far west as the Fancy Gap area of Carroll County.”

That rainfall, he said, coalesced through rivers, streams and creeks coming from the mountains into the Ararat River as it flows through Mount Airy.

He said there was a front, or weather boundary, stalled over the region throughout the night Sunday and into Monday morning, which forecasters knew had the potential to create rain and thunderstorms. What they did not know, he said, was how heavy some of that rainfall might be in Virginia.

Fillo said making forecasts as storms flow through this region is difficult because of the effect the Blue Ridge Mountains have on local weather.

“For the higher rainfall rates, you need rising air, when air is forced up the mountainside, you tend to have localized increase in rainfall intensity,” he said, adding it is not unusual for communities along the Blue Ridge to get those higher rainfall amounts — as well as sometimes higher snowfall amounts in winter — than nearby regions even when hit with the same weather system.

“The crest of the Blue Ridge, that vicinity, is well known to produce locally higher participation amounts,” he said.

That is what happened in the overnight hours from Sunday into Monday, with the Ararat River collecting much of that rainwater runoff.

The floodwaters and heavy rain toppled several large trees in the area, with many of those trees taking down power lines or power poles.

At its worst, between 9 and 10 a.m., area utility companies said nearly 1,300 customers were without electricity throughout Surry County. At that time, Surry-Yadkin Electric Co. reported nearly 60 customer outages across the county, while Duke Energy reported more than 1,233.

By 4:15 p.m. on Monday, Duke’s numbers remained largely unchanged, with company officials saying restoration was expected by 6 p.m. for most customers. Surry-Yadkin Electric reported all outages had been addressed by then.

Filo said forecasters are watching the weather for this region. With the ground already saturated, more rainfall could create additional problems. Unfortunately, he said, more rainfall is in the forecast.

“We’re still going to be in this very moist weather pattern through today,” he said late Monday morning. “We expect to keep rain chances in the forecast through tomorrow, through Tuesday night.”

Beyond that, he said the weather service is tracking Tropical Storm Idalia, which was expected to strengthen into a “major” hurricane overnight Monday and into Tuesday. Forecasters are anticipating the storm will make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida Wednesday morning, cross the state, then go out to sea across the Atlantic, while also traveling northward. That’s going to mean some bumpy weather along the coastal communities of both South and North Carolina, and could spew more rainfall far enough inland that Mount Airy — as well as the Blue Ridge Mountains in Carroll and Patrick counties — could see additional rain.

“We most likely timing for any rainfall Thursday morning,” he said of this region. “We’re still trying to get an idea on how much rain, it’s still too early to call for that yet.”