WHITEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — During hurricane season, all eyes are on the coasts and the impacts storms may have inland.
It doesn't take a hurricane-force storm to cause major flooding.
ABC11 Meteorologist Robert Johnson visited Whiteville, North Carolina, a town that was heavily damaged by Tropical Storm Severe in 2023.
“I've lived here my whole life and it's never been anywhere better,” Terry Mann said.
Mann is Whiteville's mayor and spoke about the impacts of Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Matthew on the city.
“My grandfather started this store in 1922. My father worked there and I never heard of him having flooding anywhere near his store in my lifetime,” he said.
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The city has taken steps to reduce the threat of flooding since those two hurricanes, but despite those efforts, Tropical Storm Idalia turned the downtown business district into an unrecognizable river.
Paul Todd opened Todd's Clothing a few weeks before the Idalia River flooded the area, and while his store wasn't flooded, there was water standing in the back and on the side a block away.
Todd's store was undamaged, but it brought back memories for Matthew.
“My wife owned a salon a few years ago and we've been through storms before,” he said, “and the salon flooded. So, of course, there was a little bit of anxiety.”
Since then, the city has launched several projects to improve flood-affected areas: A higher, stronger bridge was built on the flood-prone west side of town after the old one in Florence was washed away;
Mann told ABC11 there hasn't been any severe flooding since the building was built.
“We had a little bit of flooding during the last tropical storm, but it never got close to bridge height,” he said.
The city is now working with researchers from North Carolina State University's Coastal Design Institute, a group of engineers, architects and graphic designers, to find ways to tame the raging torrents.
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Mr Mann said the new project would help some of the most vulnerable people in the area.
“We just got the final funding for a $5 million project that will help downtown, but it's really focused on the west side of town and the African-American community, which has been hit by flooding many times before,” he said.
Mann said the city is also helping to raise homes and has plans to widen a nearby creek to slow water flow, but the city only looks back to the past in order to move forward.
“There's been a big revitalization of downtown and most of the businesses. Most of the buildings are already occupied and there are renovations being done for restaurants and things like that,” he said. “I'm very proud of what's happening downtown.”
“So, you know, a lot of people came together to help those affected by the flooding recover,” Todd said. “We are resilient and we will continue to be resilient.”
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