Cleanup begins in Statesville for areas hardest hit by floods

Heavy rain showers usually come and go fairly quickly. That wasn’t the case Wednesday.

Over the course of about four hours, more than eight inches of rain fell from a storm that anchored itself over Statesville, flooding numerous areas around the city, according to National Weather Service Meterologist Doug Outlaw.

“In terms of severity, this is the most rainfall to occur in that period of time in just over two decades,” Outlaw said.

City of Statesville Public Works employees spent Thursday clearing dams and culverts and removing mud and silt from the roads, said Nancy Davis, city public affairs director.

A total of seven homes were reported to Iredell County Emergency Management with varying degrees of flood damage.

Five had flooded crawl spaces and another had water high enough to flood the crawl space and a couple of inches onto the first floor.

Renee Griffith, owner of a rental home on Brookdale Drive, said she watched helpless as water poured into the basement.

“It happened so fast,” she said. “There was nothing we could do to stop it from coming in.

“There are a lot of things you can control in life, but weather is not one of them.”  

Within hours, about five feet of water stood in the basement, completely submerging an air conditioning unit, water heater and electrical outlets, she said.  

Jason Terwilliger, who rents the home from Griffith moved in about a month ago. He was provided a local hotel room by the Red Cross while repairs are made, Griffith said.

Griffith estimates about $50,000 in damages and losses, including a shed that stored almost $20,000 in inventory from a fireworks stand she owns.

Nearly two years ago, Griffith’s insurance provider recommended the purchase of flood protection for their home because it sat in a flood zone.

“At first we argued not to buy it because it never flooded here,” she said. “But now I’m very thankful.”

A little more than a mile away, Statesville High School was also hit hard by flood waters.

I-SS Public Information Officer Susie Wiberg said the water at Statesville High’s football field receded Thursday, but the field will remain soggy for a few days. Coaches will use the practice areas while the main field dries, she said.  

The band concession stand is muddy and will be cleaned over the weekend, Wiberg said.

Several buses that were nearly submerged during the flooding will be fine, she said.

Mechanics changed out the fluids and cleaned the radiators and undercarriages.

School officials also had to deal with about an inch of water that collected at the administrative office on North Race Street, she said.  

Southside Drug Co. on Western Avenue was forced to close early Wednesday, said Steph Wellman, certified pharmacy technician at the store. Rain waters covered half the floor in the store.

Wellman said the owners stayed until 7:30 p.m. cleaning up the water.

The closing caused revenue loss because Wednesday was one of the busiest days of the month, Wellman said. A large amount of customers typically pick up their medicine on the first and third day of the month.

The store re-opened on Thursday, Wellman said.