Home Local News Some Richmond County Roads Still Impassable Following Florence

Some Richmond County Roads Still Impassable Following Florence

Blewett Falls Road was covered by murky, brown water late Monday morning following days of rain from what remained of Hurricane Florence.
Chris Lemons

ROCKINGHAM — As the remnants of Hurricane Florence make their way north, Richmond County is starting to dry out, though some roads remain blocked.

Flooding caused by heavy rains over the weekend have left several Richmond County roads under water.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has several major roads listed as being closed, however many are starting to re-open.

U.S. 1 from U.S. 74 to the South Carolina state line and from Marston through Hoffman had been closed, but both sections were opened just before 2 p.m., according to Andrew Barksdale, DOT District 8 spokesman.

Both N.C. 109, near Grassy Island Road, and N.C. 73, from U.S. 220 to the Montgomery County line, were expected to re-open before 2:30 p.m. Monday.

“Many secondary roads are still impassable” due to flooding and downed trees but haven’t been logged into the state’s system yet, “which underscores the need for people to be cautious,” Barksdale said.

The National Weather Service in Raleigh estimates 10-15 inches of rain fell in Richmond County from Sept.13-17.

Readers have sent in photos of several flooded or washed out areas including Blewett Falls Road and Osborne Road.

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Barksdale said it could take a few days for them to open.

As the storm slowly made its way across the Carolinas over the weekend, strong winds knocked over trees which took down power lines, knocking out electricity to nearly everyone in the county at some point.

As of 3:30 p.m., Duke Energy reported 2,751 of its Richmond County customers were still without power. At 2:30 p.m., Pee Dee Electric had nearly 2,000 customers still in the dark, including 669 in Richmond County.

“We were very fortunate,” County Manager Bryan Land said in a text message Monday afternoon. “We faired considerably better than our neighboring counties to our east.

“Donna Wright and her team have worked extremely hard to make this event run as smooth as possible,” Land continued. “I commend all of our employees for going above and beyond and working extremely long hours into the wee hours of the morning to make sure these essential services for the citizens of Richmond County stayed online.

“I continue to pray for everyone that received damage from Florence.”

 

The Richmond Observer will have more information as it becomes available.



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Managing Editor William R. Toler is an award-winning writer and photographer with experience in print, television and online media.