Rain, Rain, Go Away

Much of the eastern seaboard has been under the gun, so to speak, with flooding impacting nearly everyone. We've had our fair share here in the piedmont starting Friday night in Asheboro.

I got the call to "go west." The voices rang out on the morning conference call wanted me to "find" the story in the northwest part of our state where rains had been coming down all weekend. So on this Monday morning, I drove. And drove. And drove.


It was a nice drive, however. They don't call 'em the Smoky Mountains for nothing.


After a few calls to local Sheriff's offices, I was able to find a bridge that was supposed to go over the New River. Instead, it looked like it was floating on the New River.


A stream emptying into the New River made for a nice scenic shot.

I caught this scenic view from way atop a ridge looking over the New River. It's not supposed to be that big. All the rain has it quite wider, and muddier, than normal.

I had driven across every bridge and down every low spot along every back road I could find in Alleghany County and a few in Ashe County when just outside Jefferson along Highway 16 I noticed some folks outside their houses cleaning up some washed out driveways. Upon closer inspection I knew I'd found the video I was looking for.


Bad for them, good for me. This small bridge over a creek lost its battle against the mighty rainfall. Residents in the area told me it rained for about 3 hours straight just like a thunderstorm that would normally last a few minutes. One lady told me she hasn't seen the creek swell like that since a big flood in 1973.

So, with an interview and the video I'd been searching for it was back to the bureau to put together 3 vo's and a vosot for the evening news.


Just 230 miles for about 100 seconds of video. So let's see, 2.3 miles per second. Hey, that's about as fast as Superman.