Heavy rains bring flooding to Charlotte region

The Charlotte region grappled with heavy rain Wednesday that flooded lakes and creeks, leaving some in need of rescue from deluged areas and others keeping a wary eye on rising waters overnight.

Flash flood warnings were in effect for most of the region Wednesday, including uptown Charlotte, the rest of Mecklenburg and most surrounding counties.

By Wednesday night, about two inches of rain had fallen at Charlotte’s airport, according to the National Weather Service. Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated that 1 to 3 inches of rain had fallen in north Mecklenburg and all of Cabarrus County. The region was under a flood watch until Thursday morning.

Wet soil and elevated stream and river levels from previous rains have primed the area for flooding with any more heavy rain over the next day, according to the weather service. The service issued the first flood watch at 3:40 a.m. Wednesday.

The rain made for a soggy Belk Bowl FanFest outside Bank of America Stadium, but the Carrie Underwood concert started on time, and so did the football game. The country singer and “American Idol” winner performed hit after hit and thanked fans for braving the downpours.

Flooding conditions were reported around Selwyn Creek in Gastonia, where the Gastonia Fire Department said it rescued seven people from their homes on Selwyn Circle.

In Dallas, N.C., the rain caused a sinkhole on W. Robinson Street, according to Dallas police. The street was closed around 2:30 p.m. between S. Holland and S. Oakland streets. A water main break in Bessemer City Wednesday afternoon left customers without water for several hours.

On Riverhaven Drive in Mecklenburg County, the road was flooded from runoff and looked more like a lake as neighbors came out to prepare for flooding from the Catawba River.

Residents told WBTV, the Observer’s news partner, that they are keeping an eye on river levels.

“It had happened so fast that some of the neighbors didn’t even know about it yet, so we’re knocking on doors saying ‘Hey, start preparing,’ ” Cara Dowling said.

Dowling said that preparing includes getting docks and boats out of the Catawba River.

“My neighbor is out of town, so we tried to sandbag near their basement because it’s a little more susceptible to the flood,” Dowling said.

Gidget Dennehy told WBTV she will monitor the water levels to see how that affects her neighborhood.

“If it keeps on like this …, if it keeps on raining, then we’ll see flooding on the Catawba,” Dennehy said.

For now neighbors said they plan to stick together and stay put.

“It keeps my heart pounding because it is Christmastime, it’s the New Year, and we just want to start it out on the right foot and not with our houses flooded,” Dowling said.

Late Wednesday, both Lake Norman and Lake Wylie were less than a foot away from reaching full pond.

Rocky River in Cabarrus County reached flood stage, according to the town of Midland. The South Fork River in Cramerton caused flooding and prompted the town to close its Riverside and Goat Island parks, Town Manager David Pugh said.

The good news is that the rain is mostly over. The chance of rain is expected to fall to 40 percent on Thursday. New Year’s Day should be mostly cloudy, and sunshine should return Saturday and Sunday.

Expected highs will drop from 69 Wednesday to 64 Thursday, 54 Friday, 49 Saturday and 53 Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C.

Correspondent Steve Lyttle contributed.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 5:40 AM with the headline "Heavy rains bring flooding to Charlotte region."