Flash Flood — Chatham, North Carolina

2025-07-06 to 2025-07-07 · near Bear Creek, Chatham, North Carolina

Event narrative

Both lanes of Highway 902 just west of Chatham Central High School were washed out due to flooding. Nearly twenty feet of roadway had been washed away.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall over northeastern South Carolina during the morning hours of July 6. The remnants of Chantal then tracked west-northwest into portions of central North Carolina, stalling out over the area before tracking east-northeast into Virginia by the 7th of July. Catastrophic flash flooding occurred from record rainfall of up to 11 inches in some spots of the Piedmont, included 6 flash flood fatalities across Chatham, Alamance, and Orange Counties. Widespread flooding particularly affected the counties of Orange, Chatman, and Moore. Four EF-1 tornadoes also touched down over portions Lee, Chatham, Alamance, and Orange Counties. Preliminary loss estimates across central North Carolina exceeded 40 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6100, -79.3900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1280351. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.