Severe flooding reported in Carolina Beach, Southport, NC

But Evan Pye said neither he nor his father had ever seen flooding as severe in Carolina Beach as it did Monday morning. As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, more than 18 inches (460 mm) of rain had fallen in Carolina Beach in less than 24 hours.

Heavy rainbands moving ashore from a slow-moving tropical weather system just off the coast of North Carolina caused severe flooding in Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

In both Carolina Beach and Southport, nearly all roads were impassable, and in at least Southport, some roads were damaged and likely impassable for days.

Carolina Beach residents surprised by storm's impact

Evan Pye said he was logging into his remote job on his computer around 8:30 a.m. Monday when the power and internet went out. He then set out with his father, an electrician, to check several properties as emergency services were called.

“We drove around,” Pye said, and quickly realized that “many of the back roads were inaccessible.”

He took photos and videos of a car in water up to its windows across from Carolina Beach Lake. He also took video of his father standing in flowing, knee-deep water on Lake Park Boulevard near Carolina Sands Drive.

Pye said he also saw children being evacuated from Carolina Beach Elementary School in a high-bed truck. The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office brought a high-water vehicle to the school to get the children home safely.

He noted that in the past, the city of Carolina Beach has drained Carolina Beach Lake when it knew a storm was coming. But with this storm, Pye said, many in the city were “caught off guard.”

In an online post, Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee said the city was running all of its pumps to deal with the flooding.

“We can't stop the rain, but we can all be safe,” he said. “Please stay off the flooded streets.”

Carolina Beach businesses report damage

For some restaurants and businesses in Carolina Beach, the flooding will have lasting effects.

Two Veggie Wagon employees went to the Carolina Beach location near 608 S. Lake Park Blvd. early Monday morning to assess the situation when unexpected heavy rain began to fall on Pleasure Island.

Everything was fine at first, said owner Max Sussman. He is out of town but saw videos of water entering the building. That was the beginning of what officials told him was a sudden flood that quickly inundated the market and swept away employees' cars.

They sought shelter at the cash register while emergency responders were busy with other rescues. Sussman said they were heroes and eventually made it to the roof of the building to wait for help from Carolina Beach Fire & Rescue.

“We have such a great team,” Sussman said. “The first thing we did was call the insurance company and make sure they had rental cars available.”

It is likely that dozens of other companies have made similar calls.

The owners of barbecue and comfort food restaurant Butts-N-Such announced on social media that their building was under three feet of water due to the flooding.

“We have lost most of our equipment,” the post said. “We will remain closed for the foreseeable future, but will post an update here once we have everything replaced and are back up and running.”

About half a mile away, the owners of Kate's Pancake House said they are in a similar situation and will remain closed until further notice.

“Kate and all home and business owners need your prayers now more than ever,” they said.

Sussman said his employees at both the Carolina Beach and Masonboro locations are counting on being open to pay their bills, but he also said they are excited about what lies ahead.

“It's going to be a lot of hard work. But we've been through this before,” he said. “Hurricane Florence gave us Veggie Wagon 2.0. Now April (Sussman) and I are already thinking about ideas for Veggie Wagon 3.0.”

FLOODED STREETS: Heavy rains have flooded roads throughout the Cape Fear region. Here is a list

Floodwaters flow into yacht basin in Carolina Beach, NC

A storm on Monday brought more than 10 inches of rain to Carolina Beach and flooded several streets. Video provided by Mike Davis.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Jamie Johnson lives in Carolina Beach and said she has never experienced flooding like Monday's, a day when the beach town received more than 19 inches of rain.

“None of us,” Johnson said. “We were standing in the street looking at each other like, 'What the hell is going on here?'”

Johnson owns the Coharie Coastal Boutique at 120 N. Lake Blvd., which was near some of the worst flooding. She went to her store Monday morning but didn't want to put sandbags in front of the front door for fear of letting more water in.

Nevertheless, she could see that water had entered the store.

“I was downtown (Carolina Beach) walking around, and then all of a sudden I thought, 'This is not such a good idea,'” Johnson said.

Johnson said she did not purchase flood insurance for her business because she was told she did not need it, but she did purchase flood insurance for her Carolina Beach home, even though water had entered the first floor, which she rents out.

“I'm going to lose money,” Johnson said, “but at least nobody got hurt. That's the main thing.”

Tropical weather in Southport, NC, brings flooding and wind gusts

Due to a possible tropical cyclone with heavy rains and storms, several roads in the city of Brunswick are impassable due to flooding.

Some stranded in Braunschweig

People traveling on US 17 between Wilmington and Brunswick County on Monday afternoon were stranded due to rising floodwaters.

Some were able to make it to the Exxon gas station at the corner of US 17 and NC 87. Although the parking lot is flooded, some were able to park on high ground where they remained and may stay overnight as many roads into Southport remain flooded or have sustained severe damage.

The city of Braunschweig has imposed a mandatory curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. for Tuesday.

Southport authorities reported massive flooding in the town at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Several streets were flooded and impassable. There were also numerous reports of flooding affecting homes.

At around 11 a.m., the Southport Fire Department posted on Facebook that it was experiencing a high volume of calls, vehicles stuck in the water and flooded homes.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at [email protected] or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with funding from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network retains full editorial control over the work.