"The tropical system dumped massive rain across central North Carolina on Sunday, days after the state’s Democratic governor vetoed a bill canceling an interim carbon reduction goal of 70 percent by 2030. GOP lawmakers will likely attempt an override."
"CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Perched above the Bolin Creek Trail, 46,000 tons of coal ash appeared to be intact Monday afternoon, the mound’s slopes anchored by bushes and vines.
But at the foot of the ash pile outside its fence, the force of the floodwaters from Tropical Depression Chantal had evicted large trees from the banks of the nearby creek. Rocks larger than bowling balls had caromed off one another. A dead crawdad lay on the trail, washed out from the creek. The air smelled vaguely of sewage.
Early Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Chantal had blown ashore in South Carolina, and by the time it meandered into central North Carolina, it had weakened to a tropical depression.
But by nightfall the impacts felt akin to a hurricane: 5 to 10 inches of rain fell within 12 hours.
Dams burst. Interstates closed. Roads washed away. The Haw River reached historic levels, rising as much as 22 feet in four hours, engulfing parts of Saxapahaw. Hillsborough officials advised residents to boil their water after parts of the treatment plant flooded. More than 17,000 Duke Energy customers lost power.
Eighty people who live along the Eno River in Durham had to be rescued, and another 63 were displaced in Chapel Hill. First responders had to conduct 13 water rescues near Southern Pines. One elderly woman in Chatham County died when her car became trapped in floodwaters."
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