5 North Carolina river sites fail fecal bacteria testing; warning at coast for Portuguese man o’ war

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — After historic flooding in central North Carolina earlier this week, five swimming sites along rivers failed testing for fecal bacteria and at the coast Portuguese man o’ war were spotted along one beach.

More than 10 inches of rain fell in just hours in parts of Orange and Chatham

counties Sunday night into Monday morning as Tropical Depression Chantal moved through North Carolina. Just under 8 inches fell in Durham County, with 9.73 inches in Alamance County.

In Durham, the city reported nearly 7 million gallons of raw sewage flowed into the Eno River, while Hillsborough leaders are still working to determine how much escaped their system. The “heavy rain” likely led to more bacteria in rivers, officials said.

Meanwhile, on Friday, at an island in Carteret County, a painful nuisance returned to beaches: Portuguese man o’ war. Emerald Isle officials warned about the very painful sea creatures along the sand and water.

The creatures — featuring a balloon-like float that can be blue, purple or pink — have tentacles that average 30 feet long but can extend to 100 feet, scientists say. Their stings rarely kill people but are very painful.

“Purple flags will be flying as we have seen Portuguese man o’ war along our beach strand. These flags fly on the lifeguard towers and patrol vehicles,” Emerald Isle officials wrote Friday, noting the creatures were gone on Saturday.

The non-profit group, Sound Rivers, tests about 50 sites along North Carolina rivers each week during the summer. The checks are for E. coli to determine if swimming areas are safe.

In the Raleigh area, two sites failed on the Neuse River: the Buffaloe Road canoe launch and the Poole Road canoe launch.

“There’s been some heavy rain lately, so that stormwater runoff can put a lot of bacteria in our waterways,” said Clay Barber, program director for Sound Rivers.

Along the Lower Neuse River, three sites failed testing by Sound Rivers, the group said. The trio is Bridgeton Park near New Bern, Glenburnie in New Bern and Slocum Creek in Havelock, Sound Rivers reported.

“When a site fails, you need to be smart about recreating on the water — don’t go into the water if you have any open wounds and don’t put your head under water if you do go in,” Barber said.

Closer to the coast, all sites in the Tar-Pamlico Watershed passed the testing, although seven sites were not tested this week.