Crews in North Carolina are “overwhelmed” with water rescues and search efforts on Monday after Chantal, then a tropical storm, made landfall a day earlier, causing record-breaking flooding in the central part of the state and at least one death, officials said.
While the storm has dissipated as of Monday morning, Chantal — the third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season — brought up to 6 inches of rain in some areas, causing many to be displaced from their homes.
A woman in Chatham County, North Carolina, died on Sunday after she drove into the floodwaters and was swept approximately 100 feet off the roadway, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
More than 120 roads have closed due to flooding and a portion of Highway 902 collapsed and was washed away, officials said.
“Just because the water may have subsided in some areas it is still dangerous to travel in some places,” Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson said on Monday.
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In Orange County, North Carolina, the storm brought 5 to 9 inches of rain, causing flooded roads along with fallen trees and power lines. The counties of Alamance, Moore and Orange have declared states of emergency, according North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein.
“I urge all North Carolinians to listen to any guidance from local weather and local emergency management officials and be aware of any road warnings and closures before they leave the house,” Stein said in a statement.
The Eno River near Huckleberry Springs — just outside of Durham, North Carolina — rose more than 20 feet in less than six hours as of Monday morning, and the Haw River near Burlington grew from 2 feet to 32.5 feet in just 13 hours.
More than 22,000 customers were still without power in North Carolina on Monday afternoon and the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina, issued a notice asking residents to boil their water as flooding from the Eno River impacted the local water treatment plant.
The town will have a “limited supply of water until the river recedes and the drinking water can be processed to refill the water tanks,” officials said.
Chantal will continue to move northeast on Monday, with flood watches in effect for northeast Virginia through central New Jersey. About 2 to 3 inches of rain is possible in these areas, with the storm hitting Baltimore and Philadelphia on Monday afternoon and New York City seeing light rain on Monday evening into Tuesday morning.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
