CHAPEL HILL - Heavy rains brought flooding problems to much of North Carolina. Flash flooding in the central part of the state prompted the Red Cross to open a shelter in Orange County on Sunday night. The shelter was set up at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill.

Orange County Emergency Manager Jim Groves says they have a creek which has been a recurring issue for Chapel Hill during severe weather and is still at a high water level. “The creek is within its banks, but it’s still flowing pretty good. It’s not down to normal levels whatsoever. If we have another event like yesterday, we could have a repeat, but looking at the forecast, we’re not seeing that type of storm forming.”

Groves says that dozens of people had to be relocated to the shelter Sunday night. “We still have people in the shelter. We had as many as 41 people in the shelter last night. At eight o’clock this morning it was down to 36. But folks are returning to their homes to look at the damage and to try to start developing their recovery plans.”

Groves says to hire a good professional to deal with water damage and to be wary of floodwater and black mold. “This is not like regular tap water. There is a lot of ugly stuff that comes down through this moving water. People have to be concerned about it if they don’t do it right, and the sheet rock gets wet and the carpet gets wet, that they replace that correctly so that they don’t have black mold issues.”

He says that the county will continue to help those displaced by the flooding as long as needed.