Flash Flooding Hits Orange County; Chapel Hill Evacuates Dozens of Residents

As part of Tropical Depression Chantal’s impact on North Carolina Sunday night, heavy rains fell on Orange County and the region — causing flash flooding and leading to both evacuations and road closures.

The Town of Chapel Hill shared alerts throughout Sunday following the National Weather Service’s flash flood warning issued in the afternoon as rain began to pick up. Shortly after 9 p.m., one of those alerts said local first responders were “in the process” of evacuating some units within the Camelot Village community in the 100 block of South Estes Drive due to flash flooding. The apartment and town home neighborhood is bordered by Bolin Creek and is a flood-prone area.

Those evacuations spread to other areas off Bolin Creek as the night went on. According to an update shared shortly before midnight, the town government reported dozens of people who first responders helped move to safety and more than 60 residents displaced by the floodwaters.

Camelot Village saw 20 residents rescued and displaced, while 18 residents of the 900 Willow apartment building at University Place mall needed temporary shelter. Chapel Hill also reported 21 people displaced at Airport Gardens off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 2 people displaced from Bolinwood Condominiums, and 2 people displaced from Booker Creek Townhouse Apartments.

Chapel Hill said its town staff and partners with Orange County “are coordinating immediate transportation and shelter for affected residents.” The response is not a wide-spread evacuation call for the area, but residents who see flash flooding are encouraged to seek high ground and avoid flood waters.

Accounts and pictures verified by Chapelboro showed significant flooding at Eastgate mall caused by Booker Creek. Witnesses reported seeing several businesses with standing water on their floors and vehicles submerged by floodwaters.

People walk through floodwaters to leave Eastgate mall in Chapel Hill after flash flooding on Sunday, July 6. (Photo via Joe Nanney.)

Beyond that, the Town of Chapel Hill reported several of its roads closed during Sunday night’s storm. Those areas, as of 9:40 p.m., included:

1800 E. Franklin Street
Hillsborough Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Bolinwood Drive
The 200 block of S. Estes Drive
The 200 block of S. Elliott Road
Estes Drive at Library Drive
Fordham Boulevard at Elliott Road
Fordham Boulevard at Cleland Drive
Fordham Boulevard at Brandon Road
Raleigh Road at Country Club Road
500 block of Umstead Drive

Additional updates can be found on the town’s Emergency webpage.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted at 6:49 p.m. on Facebook and warned of several locations further north in Orange County seeing high waters. People were encouraged to avoid the Ashbury apartments on Highway 70 West near the Alamance County line, Old NC Highway 86 at Spring Hill Road, and Churton Street at Orange Grove Road. The Town of Hillsborough shared a similar post Sunday night, saying roads were flooded throughout town and people are encouraged to not travel whenever possible.

The flash flood warning issued for Orange County is set to expire at 2 a.m. on Monday, with the flood watch extending to 6 a.m. on Monday. Any travelers during the flood watch are encouraged to avoid driving through standing water and to be wary on the roadways. The latest alerts from the National Weather Service can be found here for Orange, Chatham and Durham counties.

Several areas across the county — including Chapel Hill neighborhoods off of Estes Drive, East Franklin Street and Erwin Road, southwest Hillsborough and White Cross — reported power outages related to the storm. Local governments issued reminders to residents to report outages to their energy providers instead of calling 911. The latest Duke Energy updates can be found on its Outage Map webpage.

This is a developing story.

Featured photo via Joe Nanney.

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Flash Flooding Hits Orange County; Chapel Hill Evacuates Dozens of Residents

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