IVAN -- Seven RED STATES with one blow: Western N.C. braces for more rain from Hurricane Ivan

From: one (one_at_one.com)
Date: 09/15/04 

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:35:59 -0700

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/9666168.htm?1c

Western N.C. braces for more rain from Hurricane Ivan

Associated Press

Mountain communities, still recovering from floods caused last week by
remnants of Hurricane Frances, are bracing for up to 15 inches of rain
as Hurricane Ivan bears down on the United States.

Forecasters said Ivan, which is expected to make landfall Thursday on
the Gulf Coast, could stall and dump rain on North Carolina and
Tennessee starting Thursday. That could mean serious flooding in the
mountains.

"It's pretty scary, but there's not much we can do about it," said
Teresa Anders, owner of Rosemary's Treasures, a clothing, furniture
and jewelry shop in downtown Canton, a Haywood County town that was
inundated by Frances.

The storm left nearly 5 feet of water in her shop. Tuesday she was
dragging out soggy carpet the ruined inventory was long gone - and
waiting for an insurance adjuster.

The worst-case scenario calls for high winds, flooding and possible
tornadoes, said John Tomko, meteorologist with the weather service in
Greer, S.C. Expected to become a tropical depression by the time it
reaches western North Carolina, Ivan may still pack winds of up to 40
mph, Tomko said.

The rainfall predictions of 3 to 6 inches in central North Carolina,
which could cause flash flooding, and 10 to 15 inches in the mountains
could prove conservative if the storm is trapped by various high
pressure systems, forecasters said.

The weather service says it's probably too early to predict effects on
the eastern part of the state, such as Robeson County, which flooded
after Frances. That would depend on the path of any strong bands of
rain that might swirl out from the main part of the storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared 15 Western North
Carolina counties a disaster area because of flooding from the
remnants of Frances.

At the peak of the flooding, more than 250 roads were closed.
Landslides damaged highways and wastewater treatment plants spilled
millions of gallons of untreated water. Dozens of homes and businesses
were destroyed.

In the mountains on Tuesday, state prison inmates packed gray sand
into plastic bags while officials in Canton and Clyde, about 20 miles
west of Asheville, prepared evacuation plans as Hurricane Ivan
threatened to hit already damaged parts of Haywood County.

Home and business owners paid the looming storm little attention as
they concentrated on removing ruined furniture and clothes from nearly
400 damaged structures along the Pigeon River.

"It's like throwing your life away," said Ricki Mehaffey as she helped
friends Ronald and Jeannell Bryant clean their home in Clyde. "They
worked for 30 years to get all this stuff, and it took 30 minutes to
wash it away," she said.

Ronald Bryant said he is not too concerned about potential flooding
with Ivan.

"The damage is already done," said Bryant, whose house was submerged
in more than 4 feet of water last week from flooding brought by the
remnants of Hurricane Frances. "If it comes through, I won't be here."