Hurricane Florence hit the southeast U.S. on September 13, closing Chapel Hill High School for three days, and leaving homes and businesses without power and many areas flooded from the heavy rain and strong winds.
Chapel Hill saw a significant amount of rainfall during Florence. Eastgate Shopping Center completely flooded when Booker Creek overflowed, leaving many businesses including Bruegger’s Bagels and Starbucks damaged. Great Outdoor Provision Co. was filled with nine inches of water at the height of the flooding. Many of the establishments will be closed several weeks for renovations.
Many local homes also flooded, including junior Sammy Breschi’s house, in the neighborhood of North Haven. Her basement accumulated four to five inches of water.
“We have to re-do our entire basement and lost a lot of valuable things. It was scary because my dogs sleep in our basement, so I was worried about them the most,” Breschi said.
Some Chapel Hill families have homes on the coast, where Florence did the most damage.
Senior Jessica Kim’s family owns a home in Emerald Isle, North Carolina.
“Our house wasn’t too bad,” Kim said. “The most damage was just debris from the trees and some branches that landed on our porches, but there was no infrastructure damage.”
Kim’s family was fortunate: according to The Charlotte Observer, as of September 27, 1,500 North Carolina residents remain in shelters, as their homes are still uninhabitable.
“We got lucky,” Kim said. “Many of our neighbors lost shingles, and a big tree fell on one of their houses.”
Some local residents who have experienced flooding in the past were able to take action to prevent it this time around, including senior Noah Pettee, who lives near Bolin Creek in Chapel Hill.
“The last time [our basement] flooded, we got better draining outside, so that it wouldn’t flood in the future,” he said. “We removed all of our rugs and items off the floor and put blankets and towels up against the sliding glass door to absorb any water in case any came in.”
Students in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) district who were affected by Florence were afforded free time while the storm passed through. School was canceled in advance September 13 and 14. While on the night of September 16 no modifications had been made to the following school day, CHCCS announced a two-hour delay in the early hours of the morning September 17, and school was canceled altogether a couple hours later.
“I actually lucked out,” Online Learning Facilitator Daniel Reinholz said. “The closest I came [to being affected] was a road next to my house flooding and some minor basement leaking. I make jewelry, so I made earrings on my time off.”
Since the damage caused by Hurricane Florence in the Chapel Hill community was limited, many residents are putting forth efforts to help the areas in need.
Chapel Hill High School is teaming with WeWilmRebuild, a student-led disaster relief and rehabilitation project from Wilmington, to collect donations for the affected communities at school sporting events.
Non-perishable food, water, toiletries and pet supplies are among the most-needed items during disaster relief.
Anyone interested in helping the affected communities can donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund or volunteer time, supplies, donations or resources to those in need.
Students attended school on September 19 to make up for time lost during the inclement weather days. CHCCS has also announced November 21 as a make-up day.
