Multiple people told AccuWeather that the amount of flooding in Carolina Beach on Sept. 16 was the worst they've ever seen, even considering past hurricanes.
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00:00Our team coverage continues right now with AccuWeather's Allie Reed.
00:03And she joins us now from Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
00:06It has been a heck of a day in this area, Allie.
00:12All right, guys, and we were talking about just that significant flooding.
00:15Many people walking outside of their businesses, their homes this afternoon,
00:18saying this is going to be a couple of weeks, potentially months for some of these people
00:23to really rebuild here. I want to give you a perspective.
00:26This is really fascinating here. This street that we're on right now,
00:29my photographer, Andy, who I've been working with,
00:32he was here back in June with his daughter, Madeline.
00:34I want to bring you this picture up on your screen for you.
00:37This is what this street looked like this time back in June.
00:42OK, now that you saw the picture, come back to me live.
00:45Take a look at it now. That is something for you, huh?
00:48What you're noticing right now is a few different things.
00:50That water now starting to recede back into the Atlantic Ocean,
00:53which just happens to be on the next block over here.
00:56That current very, very strong. Andy, can we get up close on my boots here?
01:01That gives you a good perspective of how fast moving this water is going back into the water.
01:06That is a positive sign here for many people this afternoon.
01:10Now into this evening, really just as that water goes down,
01:14a few things that we've seen here in this area.
01:16We've seen many sold out cars, unfortunately.
01:19And at this point, now that the heavy rain and wind has started to subside a bit,
01:25many people now trying to get back to their cars to see if maybe they can get out of these floodwaters.
01:30The other thing, many people now hanging out at local restaurants
01:33because a lot of them are family owned businesses in this area,
01:36really starting to assess the damage here.
01:39We do have some sound from a man who's been here for more than 20 years.
01:42Really, really interesting stuff.
01:44Take a listen to this. Just how devastating this is for many people.
01:48I've never seen anything like this in about 20 years.
01:51It's pretty much the craziest event we've ever seen, especially for an unnamed storm.
01:57We just had another friend of ours who lives down the road on Canal Drive and he lost everything.
02:01He's in construction.
02:02He has a trailer and truck that's under four foot of water in his yard right now.
02:07I mean, it's pretty devastating to be honest with you.
02:12And many things in this area also disheveled today.
02:15Again, just pointing your direction here.
02:16Look at that recycling bin in the middle of the street.
02:19Not only that, but farther in the distance, you'll notice that police do have this area blocked off.
02:24You'll notice plenty of police, city officials in this area too.
02:27But the biggest thing, there have been a ton, a ton of rescues, live rescues today.
02:33People getting out of their homes, out of their cars to safety.
02:37We see someone.
02:38Hi there. How's it going?
02:39You're watching us.
02:40We're live on the AccuWeather Network.
02:42Do you live in the area?
02:43Yeah, I do.
02:43I live down in Curry Beach.
02:44What's your name?
02:45Stone Davenport.
02:46Stone.
02:46Yes, ma'am.
02:47I like that name.
02:48Obviously very shocking, very devastating to see this.
02:50What's going through your mind?
02:52I've never seen it like this before.
02:53This is the most flooded it's ever been.
02:55I've lived here 15 years, my entire life.
02:57And I've just, I've never even seen it like this before.
03:00I got it.
03:00I'm meeting my friend up there and I'm getting a ride up to the north end.
03:03I don't even know if I'm going to be able to make it up because it's so flooded.
03:05Okay.
03:06So you are texting back and forth, phone calls with your friends.
03:08What's everyone else saying around town?
03:10Everybody just can't believe how flooded it is.
03:12I mean, even over by the lake, you see there's trucks and cars.
03:15There was a truck that was in the lake earlier today that somebody saw.
03:18And there was a truck that was fully covered up to the roof and the very top of the car.
03:22It's just tragic.
03:23And I need to ask, how did your home make it out?
03:26We made it out good.
03:28We're up on a hill, just like nine feet above the sea level.
03:31So breathing above it.
03:32Breathing a sigh of relief.
03:33Yes, ma'am.
03:33I had a buddy though, who lived right over by the lake and his bedroom is like this deep of water.
03:39Just his bedroom is just covered up to his bed.
03:41Wow.
03:41It sounds like from talking to people here that it could potentially be weeks,
03:44if not months for them to rebuild.
03:46Absolutely.
03:46I mean, I've never seen anything like this.
03:49I think they messed up draining the lake or something because usually they dredge it.
03:53They drain a lot more water in the lake.
03:54And before the storm, they didn't look like they drained a lot of water for it.
03:58Well, I think unfortunately, as we were talking, many people,
04:01this was a significant storm, even though it wasn't named, causing a ton of damage.
04:05Stone, thank you very much.
04:07It was nice to meet you.
04:08Ali, pleasure.
04:09Watch us on AccuWeather.
04:10Guys, we're going to continue to follow this for you.
04:12I mean, really just incredible, devastating stuff here.
04:16Unfortunately, here in Carolina Beach.
04:17You know, just stick with us with Jeff.
04:19Jeff and I will handle this radar.
04:21All right, Ali, do be careful.
04:22What was struck, Jeff and I, was the current.
04:25Yeah, absolutely.
04:26The current is something that we're not expecting to see.
04:30There's this single rain band here.
04:32And you know, Jeff, I've been talking about this all morning.
04:34It's almost as if you have a go.
04:36If you have your garden hose outside and instead of it being on a spray,
04:42it's on a single stream or jet.
04:45And that's what we're looking at with this rain band.
04:47It's almost like a microcosm of an atmospheric river,
04:50but just directed into a countywide scale,
04:53which has been a tremendously hard hit area for the South.