Storm chaser recaps unforgettable experience of extreme flooding in North Carolina

AccuWeather

Storm chaser Aaron Jayjack, who witnessed a bridge collapse underneath an SUV and found himself stuck in a North Carolina town cut off by flooding, breaks down his experience of the Sept. 16 tropical rainstorm

Transcript

00:00Monday was a day that the residents of Brunswick County in North Carolina will

00:03never forget, and a day that I will never forget. A tropical rainstorm made

00:08landfall on the southeastern North Carolina coast, bringing with it immense

00:11amounts of rainfall. A band of rain set up like a fire hose, dumping rain by the

00:17truckload, first on Carolina Beach and then in my location in Southport. This

00:23prompted flash flood warnings to be issued, even tornado warnings were being

00:26issued. I encountered many vehicles that were trying to drive through these

00:29floodwaters, becoming stuck and stalled out. In fact, while I was live on the

00:33AccuWeather network, one vehicle tried to drive through some floodwaters that

00:37were going over a bridge. Underneath this bridge was a creek, and when they tried

00:41to drive through those waters, they fell through the bridge. Fortunately, they were

00:46okay, only with minor injuries. Myself and another person were able to get them out

00:50of the vehicle and to safety, but this underscores the importance of why it is

00:54dangerous to drive through floodwaters. You just never know what's going on

00:57underneath those waters on the roadway. Roadways can be washed out or

01:01compromised, and that's exactly what happened with this vehicle. Now the rain

01:06stopped, but after many hours there were still problems in Southport. I was stuck

01:12in Southport along with many others. I couldn't find a way out of there. Many

01:16roads were washed out or just covered with water. Eventually, I was able to get

01:21out of Southport after spending the night at a church there. On Tuesday

01:25morning, I made my way out of the Southport area, and as I did, I encountered

01:29what looked like a war zone. Many vehicles, by the dozens, that were stalled

01:34out and abandoned on the side of the road. Problems will continue down there

01:38in Southport, Carolina Beach, across Brunswick County for some time as they

01:43continue to clean up and roadways need to be built. Reporting for AccuWeather,

01:47I'm Aaron Jajak.

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