The flood warnings have washed away. The wind advisories have calmed. And, after 12 consecutive days and more than 10 inches of rain, mostly sunny and clear skies are expected to return to Bladen County through at least Friday.
The National Weather Service has cancelled all watches and warnings for Bladen County, including the flood warning for the Cape Fear River at Elizabethtown Lock and Dam No. 2.
The river did cause some minor flooding Monday as it flooded its banks. The boat landing at Tory Hole Park in Elizabethtown flooded into the parking lot.
Bladen County schools dismissed classes early Friday and Monday because of the rain, and will operate Tuesday on a two-hour delay to make sure roads are safe for travel. There was some minor road flooding Friday, but the waters had receded by Saturday. A few trees fell and blocked roads, including along N.C. 53 between Elizabethtown and White Oak on Sunday.
Bladen County emergency services personnel were on standby and prepared to go to other counties to help if needed, but were not deployed, according to director Bradley Kinlaw.
Overall, however, Bladen County was spared the full wrath of the storm, although the nearly 8 inches of rain between Thursday through Sunday damaged crops. Gov. Pat McCrory and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler are scheduled to visit Lu Mil Vineyard near Dublin and Dan Ward’s farm in Clarkton on Tuesday to talk about the storm’s damage to agriculture.
Other nearby counties were not as fortunate. Major flooding was reported in Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender and Columbus counties. The storm was at its worst in South Carolina where at least nine people died and some areas received as much as 20 inches of rain.
The daily rain began Sept. 26 and came after 11 consecutive days without measurable rain. The deluge came Saturday when 4.6 inches was recorded in Bladen Online’s gauge, which is part of the national Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network.
Here are the daily recorded amounts, in inches. Measurements are taken at 8 a.m. each day for the previous 24-hour period:
Sept. 25: 0.46
Sept. 26: 0.23
Sept. 27: 0.06
Sept. 28: 0.52
Sept. 29: 0.13
Sept. 30: 0.43
Oct. 1: 0.72
Oct. 2: 2.02
Oct. 3: 4.60
Oct. 4: 0.14
Oct. 5: 0.69
Oct. 6: 0.25 (as of 12:30 a.m. Tuesday)
Total: 10.25
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