CAROLINA BEACH — A council member and former mayor of Carolina Beach argues infrastructure modernization efforts need to take priority after the town was inundated with some of its worst flooding due to tropical cyclone eight hitting the region Monday.
READ MORE: Roadway closures, collapses due to storm
ALSO: CB’s Canal Drive flooded 12% in last year, preliminary data shows
A National Weather Service gauge measured over 18 inches of rain at Ocean Boulevard in Carolina Beach over 12 hours Monday, a one-in-a-thousand year storm event. National Weather Service science officer Reid Hawkins told Port City Daily extreme flooding events in the area are expected to become more frequent in coming years due to sea level rise and climate change.
Mayor Lynn Barbee issued a state of emergency in response to the flood. Councilmember Joe Benson told Port City Daily emergency workers carried out at least 50 rescues Monday.
“There’s no infrastructure on planet earth that can keep this [stormwater] moving fast enough to prevent it from backing up,” Benson said.
He said staff activated four six-inch emergency outflow pumps on Carolina Beach South to push stormwater over dunes into the ocean.
“That’s like a last ditch,” he said. “The last time that happened was Hurricane Florence.”
The 2018 hurricane brought 23 inches of rain in the southeastern region over multiple days after the category 1 storm made landfall in Wrightsville Beach.
Carolina Beach plans to use $20 million in revenue bonds for stormwater projects over the next 20 years. Benson noted several projects are up for bid, including retention wall projects on Scotch Bonnet Lane and Clam Shell Lane and a vacuum truck for routine maintenance, such as removing debris from drainage pipes.
Benson said other strategies will be considered after N.C. State coastal engineering assistant professor Katherine Anarde completes an ongoing modeling project on flood impacts in Carolina Beach’s north end.
Anarde’s research is part of N.C. State’s Sunny Day Flooding Project, which uses sensors inside stormwater drains to record causes of floods. Researchers found Canal Drive flooded 60 days from June 2023 through June 2024.
“One of the reasons I decided to run again was infrastructure,” he said. “
Benson was re-elected as a councilmember in 2021 after serving as CB mayor from 2017 to 2019. He wants to pursue projects that will modernize the town’s system, he said.
Several residents raised concerns that drainage blockages and other infrastructure issues may have exacerbated flooding from Tropical Storm Debby, which impacted the region a month ago with up to 16 inches of rain in some areas. At a town council meeting last month, resident Jared Holmes said contractors cut down trees and left debris on Summer Salt Lane, preventing drainage.
“People who are existing — their houses are now becoming retention ponds,” resident Kristen Dunn said at the August council meeting. “A lot of the time there are stormwater plans with new construction, but I just don’t know if that’s really being enforced and if their plan is getting water to the town’s stormwater system. It’s just kind of dumping into neighbors’ yards.”
Hurricane Alley’s owner David Cole told Port City Daily he believed the town needed to be quicker to drain the 10-acre Carolina Beach Lake, which pumps stormwater through Hennikers Ditch to the Cape Fear River.
According to a post made by Barbee on Monday, the stormwater team prepared the lake, including cleaning out debris and the drains. Barbee couldn’t be reached by press.
In a 2019 presentation to council, planning director Jeremy Hardison noted backflow preventers, used to keep seawater from filling outflow pipes, can be encrusted with barnacles and blocked by debris.. He recommended building bulkheads — retaining walls along a shoreline — as a potential solution.
Bulkheads face regulatory burdens due to potential negative effects on coastal environments; Rep. Charles Miller (R-Brunswick) introduced a bill to authorize Carolina Beach to regulate bulkheads last year, but it didn’t make it out of committee.
Benson disputed arguments that development was a driving cause of historic flooding, as indicated by some residents.
But he noted the town’s recently adopted unified development ordinance establishes an impervious coverage limit of 65% for most zoning districts.
He said the town will consider implementing an infiltration system to filter pollutants in stormwater through discharge pipes beneath sand dunes.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
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