On Monday, September 17, 2018, the creeks of Chapel Hill crested from the 9+” of rain our area received from Hurricane Florence. Major flooding occurred all over town.
Almost every store in Eastgate flooded in the recent storm took on from 9 – 30 inches inside their stores. Condos and homes flooded. See and hear “Some Lost Everything” in Herald Sun.
Eastgate is an integral part of the Ephesus-Fordham district, now ironically renamed “Blue Hill”, and it floods extensively and will continue to do so. This flooding happens for two reasons: (1) changing climate conditions, and (2) upstream development. The Town has endeavored to address the flooding problems by commissioning watershed studies. Unfortunatley to date the Town can only afford to fund only 1/10 of the needs for one watershed. The good hydrological information learned does not get transferred to the land use map where the Council determines where buildings get built.
The economic damage caused by this flood event hurts business and our local merchants, flooded homes hurt our residents, and flood waters are unhealthy for everyone.
CHALT is preparing a list of recommendations for the Town Council on specific measures to take.