Storm damage blocks traffic
Friday was a very busy day for the Churchill Five Forks Volunteer Fire Department when Mother Nature decided to use their fire district as an example.
Thunderstorms rolled through the entire Lake Gaston region in the late afternoon and evening and decided to stay with frequent thunder and lightening and dumping more than five inches of rain in an already soaked area.
According to Churchill’s fire chief Robby Ross a large pine tree snapped and went down on NoCarva Road because of high winds. Both lanes of the road were closed while the department responded and cut the tree out of the way. The road was reopened and Ross said later the NCDOT responded and removed the rest of the debris.
Later in the evening an unnamed creek branch on Wise-Five Forks Road flooded and at 9:15 p.m. Jordan Creek also overflowed its banks on Wise-Five Forks road, shutting down both lanes of traffic for nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Nearby, on Sixpound Creek, residents experienced torrential rains and winds overturned jon boats and broke trees.
Ross noted that local rain gauges showed 5 to 5.2 inches of rain fell within a two-and-a-half hour span.
