But Evan Pye said neither he nor his father had seen flooding in Carolina Beach as intense as what happened Monday morning. As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, more than 18 inches of rain had fallen in Carolina Beach in less than 24 hours.

Heavy rain bands brought ashore by a slow-moving tropical weather system just off the coast of North Carolina caused major flooding in Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

In Carolina Beach and Southport, virtually all roads were impassable, and in Southport some roads were damaged and likely out of service for days.

Carolina Beach residents surprised by storm impact

As for Evan Pye, he said he was getting ready to clock in for his remote job via computer around 8:30 a.m. Monday morning when he lost power and internet. He then went out with his father, who is an electrician, to check various properties for calls for service.

“We started driving around,” Pye said, and soon discovered that “a lot of the back roads were impassable.”

He took photos and video of a car up to its windows in water across the street from Carolina Beach Lake. He also took video of his father standing on Lake Park Boulevard, near Carolina Sands Drive, in moving, knee-deep water.

Pye said he also saw children being evacuated from Carolina Beach Elementary School via a raised bed truck. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office brought a flood vehicle to the school to help transport the children safely home.

He noted that in the past, the city of Carolina Beach has drained Carolina Beach Lake when it knew a storm was coming. But for this storm, Pye said, many in the city were “blindsided.”

Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee said in an online post that the city had all its pumps running to deal with the flood.

“We can’t stop the rain, but we can all be safe,” he said. “Please stay off the flooded roads.”

Businesses in Carolina Beach assess damage

For some restaurants and businesses in Carolina Beach, the flooding will have lasting effects.

Two Veggie Wagon employees went to the Carolina Beach location at 608 S. Lake Park Blvd. early Monday morning to check on things after unexpected heavy rain fell on Pleasure Island.

At first, everything went well, said owner Max Sussman. He’s not in town, but he started seeing videos of water seeping into the building. That was the beginning of what officials would tell him was a flash flood that quickly engulfed the market, sweeping away employees’ cars.

They took shelter on the checkout counter while responders were busy with other rescues. Sussman said they were champions and eventually made it to the roof of the building to wait for help from Carolina Beach Fire & Rescue.

“We have such a great team,” Sussman said. “That was the first priority, calling the insurance company and making sure they have rental cars to use.”

It’s likely that dozens of other companies have made similar calls.

The owners of the barbecue and home-style restaurant Butts-N-Such posted on social media that the flooding had left nearly three feet of water in their building.

“We have lost most of our equipment,” the message read. “We will be closed for the foreseeable future, but we will post an update here once we have everything replaced and are up and running again.”

About a half mile away, the owners of Kate’s Pancake House said they were in a similar situation and would remain closed until further notice.

“Kate and all homeowners and business owners need your prayers now more than ever,” they said.

Sussman said his employees, both at the Carolina Beach and Masonboro locations, are counting on them being open to pay their bills. But he also said they’re excited about what’s to come.

“There’s going to be a lot of hard work. But we’ve been here before,” he said. “Hurricane Florence gave us Veggie Wagon 2.0. Now April (Sussman) and I are already thinking about ideas for Veggie Wagon 3.0.”

FLOODED ROADS: Heavy rains have flooded streets in the Cape Fear region. Here is a list

Floodwaters flood into marina basin in Carolina Beach, NC

A storm on Monday brought more than 10 inches of rain to Carolina Beach and flooded several roads. Video provided by Mike Davis.

“What’s going on here?”

Jamie Johnson, a Carolina Beach resident, says she has never seen flooding like the one that hit the city on Monday, when more than a foot of rain fell in the beach town.

“None of us have that,” Johnson said. “We were standing in the street looking at each other like, ‘What the hell is going on here?'”

Johnson owns the Coharie Coastal Boutique at 120 N. Lake Blvd., which was near some of the most intense flooding. She walked to her shop Monday morning but didn’t want to put sandbags outside her front door for fear of letting more water in.

Yet she saw that water had entered the store.

“I was walking around downtown (Carolina Beach) and all of a sudden I thought, ‘This is not a good idea,’” Johnson said.

Johnson said she did not have flood insurance on her store because she was told she did not need it. She said she did have flood insurance on her Carolina Beach home, where water had entered the ground floor of the home she rents out.

“I’m losing money,” Johnson said, “but at least nobody got hurt. That’s the main thing.”

Tropical weather in Southport, NC brings flooding and gusty winds

Due to the possible arrival of a tropical cyclone bringing heavy rain and wind, several roads in the city of Brunswick are impassable due to flooding.

Some stranded in Brunswick

People traveling on US 17 between Wilmington and Brunswick County became stranded Monday afternoon as water levels rose.

Several people were able to reach the Exxon station at the corner of US 17 and NC 87. Although the parking lot is flooded, some were able to park on higher ground where they will remain and possibly spend the night, as many roads leading into Southport are still flooded or have sustained heavy damage.

The city of Brunswick has imposed a mandatory curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Southport officials reported extensive flooding in the town near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, with several roads inundated and impassable. There were also numerous reports of flooding affecting homes.

At around 11am, the Southport Fire Department posted on Facebook that they had received numerous reports of vehicles being submerged in water and homes being flooded.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at [email protected] or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with the financial support of the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network retains full editorial control over the work.