Multiple major roads washed out in Brunswick County, leaving drivers and residents stranded

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Several major roads through Brunswick County became impassable Monday due to heavy rainfall.

According to the NCC Department of Transportation, several state roads will be closed for a while including portions of US 17 and NC 211 in Brunswick County.

Highway 17 was closed due to flooding, a section of Highway 211 was closed due to a road collapse, and a portion of 133 collapsed between Old Brunswick and the Sunny Point intersection.

Holden Beach resident Natalie Snyder said she worried she couldn’t make it home.

“We’ve had hurricanes and stuff before but I’ve never been stranded, I’m not one of the unfortunate ones to be stranded before so no I’ve not seen it before, Snyder said. “My husband has seizures and I don’t want to be without him overnight. I’m scared.”

But the roads weren’t the only casualty of the storm.

Larry Taylor lives in Bolivia and said the dam holding back his pond broke.

“And we looked out and you could tell it all busted,” Taylor said. “Every fish that was in here, every turtle that was in here, everything that was in here is gone. It’s just mud and stumps, I got 2 acres of just mud and stumps instead of a pond.”

While some were left stranded in their cars, some people who went to work, couldn’t return home.

A handful of teachers at Town Creek and Supply Elementary Schools are spending the night at their schools.

Town Creek Middle School teacher Chad Lanzo questioned why Brunswick County Schools didn’t close the schools with the storm fast approaching.

“It puts you in a tough spot when its like inclement weather,” Lanzo said. “Like coming, having been a teacher in Colorado, I know when there was danger of a blizzard or wildfire, you err on the side of caution.”

For some, making it home was the only thing that mattered.

Jacob Mintz walked more than 7 miles after abandoning his car on the side of the road.

“Got stranded, been stuck on the highway since about 11:30 am,” Mintz said. “Multiple cars got swamped and yeah, it’s not good. I ain’t never seen anything like this, even in Florence. It’s wild man, Leland better do something with the infrastructure around here. They keep building these houses and thinking that this don’t happen. They keep knocking these woods down, these natural wetlands keep knocking them down, this gonna keep happening so that is a wake-up call to Brunswick County right there.”

As soon as it becomes safe, the NCDOT will be sending out road crews to make emergency repairs to impacted roads.

The Brunswick County Government posted to their Facebook that “members of the Sheriff’s Office and public safety personnel are working to deliver food, water, and supplies to drivers who remain on roads closed or impassable due to severe flooding or damaged roads.”