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Chantal rains blamed for one death in Mebane

Image shows map of lake
Image courtesy Orange County
Officials say the Lake Michael Dam in Mebane is at risk of failing, which could flood neighborhoods downstream.

Heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal shut down many roads and highways and caused dozens of people in North Carolina to flee their homes.

One person in Mebane has died as a result of the flooding. Alamance County Attorney Rik Stevens says 61 people have been rescued since the flooding began. He says most of them approached watery areas and couldn’t get out.

Mebane officials say the rains flooded the Graham-Mebane Water Treatment Plant. The system cannot operate at normal levels. They are asking all residents to limit their water usage to zero if possible for the rest of the day.

In Alamance County, the Haw River crested at a near-record 32.5 feet overnight.

At one point Monday morning, more than 7,000 people were without power in Alamance. But as of 2 p.m., Duke Energy officials report the number is down to fewer than 20.

In Orange County, the possibility that Lake Michael Dam could fail prompted officials to issue a voluntary evacuation for areas downstream.

Officials say currently, water on the roadways is receding, and there are only a few hotspots where roads are closed in Alamance.

Drivers are advised to turn around instead of trying to pass through flooded roads. People should also stay away from river and stream banks and culverts as they may become unstable.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.