How much worse was the Black River Pender County flooding on Tuesday than Monday?

CURRIE, NC (WWAY) — We spent a good portion of Monday evening and Tuesday evening in the western part of Pender County between Currie and Kelly. Was there a big difference in the flooding in just a 24 hour period? Yes.

The intersection of Morgan Road and Highway 210 was dry as could be on Monday. By late Tuesday you couldn’t even drive through into Morgan or onto Highway 210 near the Black River Mini Mart and it’s all due to the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

On Monday Kelly resident Eugene Davenport summed it for us. “All those little rivers empty in and flood and leave us in for a bad way,” Davenport said. “I mean they all have to come here and empty in and of course it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

A bit further down highway 210 on Monday the highway was dry as it could be. Not that way on Tuesday. Highway Patrol shut it down around 4 p.m., and for good reason. Berkley Pridgen is monitoring the unfolding situation. “They say the water is rising about three inches an hour or a little bit better. It’s coming from above. All that water from above river is coming this way. It takes quite a bit to make it flood, but once it starts it comes on out fast.”

The Black River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River. The Black River is about 50 miles long. It flows southeast through Pender County and joins the Cape Fear about ten miles north of Wilmington. On Tuesday afternoon emergency officials declared a mandatory evacuation in the Black River basin of Pender County.