How NC emergency crews brace for more rain after Chantal’s flooding at Haw River

HAW RIVER, N.C. (WGHP) — The floodwaters are going down in the town of Haw River.

As things start to clear out, first responders are getting a chance to assess the damage while also preparing for another round of rain this week.

Haw River Fire Chief Tyler Franklin describes the destruction he witnessed on Sunday from Tropical Storm Chantal as being worse for the Haw River community than Hurricane Fran.

“I had a lot of guys that were deployed to Helene in Western Carolina, and they were talking about how it reminded them a lot of that,” Franklin said.

On Tuesday afternoon, FOX8 got the chance to ride along with Franklin as he went around assessing the damage.

He took FOX8 to Stone Street Extension near Trollingwood Road, where some of his firefighters had to save several people Sunday night and early Monday morning.

A few days later, the mud stains on the trees show just how high the flood waters rose.

Franklin said the back creek overflowed, which led to a handful of rescues along U.S. 70

“We didn’t know how many victims we had because of the cars from the junk yard … were in the river, and we had to figure out what cars had victims in them,” Franklin said.

While many nearby businesses were damaged, Franklin said that even the homes of his first responders were impacted by the storm.

“I had one fireman experience that himself. His basement was getting flooded. He was still out here rescuing people. I wouldn’t even say put his thoughts on the back burner of what’s happening to his house, but we’re here to protect the citizens at all costs. That’s what we vowed to do at all cost,” Franklin said.

Franklin said that over the next few days, they’ll continue to assess the damage and figure out a game plan if extreme flooding happens again.

He expects Red Slide Park to be shut down out of precaution.