Lincoln Co. Officials: Cars wash away, roads shut down

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Channel 9 has been talking to emergency crews in Lincoln County all day. So far, they say no injuries have been reported. But several cars have been washed away and roads have been shut down.

"We just got out just in time," Michelle Hendrick said.

Channel 9 crews met Hendrick and her cousin Cassie Rhyne as they were loading Rhyne's most valuable belongings into a car. Rhyne lives near the bridge on Howards Creek Mill Road. She was sleeping as the water began to rise.

"They were banging on the doors," Rhyne said. "She rescued me."

"Literally in 10 minutes, the water rose from the creek side to the house and we barely got out," Hendrick said.

Bridges were being pushed by the water. Many roads flooded. More than a dozen became too dangerous for cars to get past. An elderly couple, cut off by the water, had to be rescued as well.

"We evacuated those folks by raft and took those folks to a temporary shelter," water rescue team member James Flynn said.

Channel 9 crews saw severe flooding in Lincoln County. Cars washed off roadways and roads crumbled with rushing water.
"It's just ungodly, ungodly," Kimberly Starnes said.

Power lines are another concern. A tree on Reepsville Road near Trinity Church took out power to part of a neighborhood.
"I've lived here for eight years, and it's never been like this," Pam Erwin said.

WSOC