North Carolina city works to improve potential impact of flooding during hurricanes

WHITEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- All eyes are on the coast during hurricane season and on the potential impact the storms can have inland.

It doesn't take a hurricane-force storm to bring about major flooding.

ABC11 Meteorologist Robert Johnson was in Whiteville, North Carolina where the city saw a big impact from a tropical storm in 2023.

"I've lived here all my life and nothing ever even came close," Terry Mann said.

Mann is the mayor of Whiteville and described the impact of hurricanes Florence and Matthew on the city.

"My grandfather started the business in 1922. My father worked there and I never heard him in my lifetime talking about anywhere close to our store being flooded," he said.

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The city has taken measures to improve flood threats since both hurricanes. However, despite the efforts, Tropical Storm Idalia turned the downtown business district into an unrecognizable river.

Paul Todd opened "Todd's Clothing" just weeks before Idalia inundated the area. He said the store didn't flood but water was a block away behind them and on the side.

Though Todd's store was unaffected, it brought back memories from Matthew.

"My wife, she owned a Salon a few years back. And we were hit by a storm previously," he said. "So we had a lot of flooding in our salon...Of course, there was some anxiety, a little of bit anxiety there."

Since then, the city has launched several projects to improve flood-ravaged areas. A taller, stronger bridge was installed on the flood-prone west side of town after the old bridge washed away during Florence.

Mann told ABC11 the flood hasn't flooded terribly since it was built.

"There was a little bit of flooding in the last tropical storm but it didn't get near the level of the bridge," he said.

The city is now teaming up with researchers at NC State's coastal design lab, where engineers, architects, and graphic designers all come together to find ways to tame the torrent.

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Mann said a new project will support the most vulnerable in the area.

"We just got the final funding for a $5 million project, which is going to help the downtown, but it's really focusing on the west side of town and an African-American community that has had traditional flooding," he said.

Mann said the city has also helped raise the level of people's homes and plans to widen the size of a nearby stream to slow water's flow. But the city is only looking back so it can move forward.

"And we've had a strong revitalization of downtown and most businesses. Most buildings are occupied now, and we've got work going on with some restaurants and stuff," he said. "I'm proud of where our downtown is."

So a lot of people, you know, they came together... to help recover those that were flooded in the situation," Todd said. "We're resilient, and we'll just continue to be resilient."