Pender residents urged to evacuate before it’s too late

Oct. 12--CANETUCK -- As floodwaters from the Black River continued to rise Wednesday, Kim West clutched her 3-year-old granddaughter Paris to her chest as she ducked under the spinning blades of the rescue helicopter SABLE in Currie.

Behind her, a Pender County EMS and Fire official held her elderly mother's hand.

The three generations of women were picked up from their street off Heading Bluff Road in the helicopter. West's husband was going to stay in their three-story home on stilts throughout the flooding, and if it weren't for her mother who is on a pacemaker, West said she might have stayed behind too.

"I promised my dad I would take care of her though, and that's exactly what I plan on doing," West said about her mother, her voice breaking.

On Wednesday, Pender County emergency management reported 19 rescues by helicopter, four by a five-ton vehicle, and multiple rescues by boat in the Black River Basin.

Warning the the river's waters were becoming life-threatening, Pender officials pleaded with residents in the area west of Moores Creek National Battlefield to get out quickly. "If you can't get out, then call 911 and we will come and get you," said Woody Sullivan, the county's EMS and fire chief.

The Black River near Currie had risen to 17.06 feet by 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Forecasts for how high the water will rise are not available, but the National Weather Service in Wilmington said flooding in the area is expected to be worse than during Hurricane Floyd.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Cape Fear River near Burgaw had reached 17.2 feet and is expected to crest at 17.4 feet on Thursday. The flood stage for the Northeast Cape Fear River is 10 feet. At 16.5 feet, residents can expect White Stocking Road to be flooded with some homes starting to flood. In addition, N.C. 53 is closed near the river.

As a result of the flood waves moving down the Cape Fear River, the Black River and the Northeast Cape Fear River, tide levels in Wilmington area now expected to be 1.5 to 2 feet above normal, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. The highest levels should begin this weekend and run into early next week. This will result in minor to moderate flooding at high tide along the downtown riverfront and tidal creeks on both the New Hanover and Brunswick side, the weather service said.

In Pender County, a mandatory evacuation was ordered at 2 p.m. Tuesday for residents in the Black River Basin. By Wednesday morning, water had breached over N.C. 210 pushing more than a foot of water over parts of the roadway where there was no water Tuesday. On Wednesday, the communities in Canetuck were accessible by boat only.

As of 1:30 p.m., Sullivan said the coast guard and other officials had a list of more than a dozen people to go and get, but more people were being added every hour as the water was rising quickly.

"We need people to understand it's not going to get better; the water keeps rising and they need to get out now," he said, repeating his plea to residents.

Large emergency vehicles built to withstand floodwaters were not being taken out into the impacted areas, Sullivan said, because in places where rescues were going on, water was too high. The Black River Bridge on N.C. 210 was not structurally sound, which was also causing problems for responders and stopping emergency vehicles. As of 3 p.m., Pender County had asked for flight help from Bladen and Brunswick counties.

William Mayhew said after seeing coverage of the flooding, he volunteered his amphibious boat, a boat with wheels, to help with rescues Wednesday. Emergency officials planned to go door-to-door again today and take people out of the flooded area.

Steven Cavenaugh and Taylor Brewer showed up at N.C. 210 where the water was going over the road to see how they could reach his mother, Penny Finn, who was on Heading Bluff Road and couldn't get out.

Cavenaugh had tried to get her to leave Tuesday night, but the water wasn't that high. But Wednesday morning it kept creeping up and she told her son she was ready.

"But there was no way I could get to her," Cavenaugh said. "She doesn't have flood insurance because she lives a mile and half from the river -- who would think you need flood insurance more than a mile away from the river."

Finally, after several hours, the mother and son were reunited when Penny and her boyfriend Tommy Wilson were taken by helicopter to the command center at Larry's Tire.

When Katie Greene walked up to the rising waters Wednesday on N.C. 210, she started to cry as she took photos with her phone.

She lost her home on Borough Road two years ago in a fire. Now she might lose it again.

"We are on the highest part of the road -- but seeing this, this doesn't help," she said.

While there were reports of donkeys, horses and other farm animals trapped in the flood waters, officials said people are their priority right now.

In some places, people were able to get out but animals were not. Standing at the road closure on N.C. 210, Brian Mott said he wanted to go back for his two dogs he left home. Tuesday, when they evacuated, he thought he would be able to go back shortly after and get the dogs, but the water was already too high.

Officials told him people would be rescued first. His father Ron Mott said he had goats and other animals he was worried about on Shane Bridgers Road.

"This is a lot worse than Floyd," Ron said, adding that he did everything he could for the animals before the evacuation. "We came back this morning to see if we could get out there."

Pender County said residents with large animals and livestock that need to be rescued can contact the emergency management office at 910-259-1210.

Carolyn Moser, the director of the Pender County Health and Human Services, said attempts will be made to rescue large animals. But she said there is no guarantee the rescue groups can reach the more flooded regions.

___

(c)2016 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)

Visit the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) at www.starnewsonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.