Chantal: A Big Storm for a Small County

By Erika Pietrzak, September 26, 2025

Tropical Storm Chantal drove the Haw River up 30 feet overnight, flooding homes, churches, and highways across Alamance County. It’s a stark reminder that “small” storms are growing more destructive in a warming world.

Before I arrived in Burlington, North Carolina for my new job, I made a long list of things I wanted to do in Alamance County. The majority of the items on my “Alamance Wishlist” included experiencing the beautiful nature that the region has to offer, from the historical Snow Camp to Lake Cammack’s 50-mile shoreline to the majestic Cane Creek Mountain that boasts geology dating back more than 350 million years. When I first came to visit, I noticed state park signs along the side of the roads more frequently than I ever had before on the East Coast. 

One of the first things I mentioned to my colleagues was that I wanted to kayak the Haw River. Immediately, I was told that it would be hard to do. Not because of rapids or the dam, but because of flooding. Over the July 4th weekend, Tropical Storm Chantal made the Haw River rise dramatically from 2.45 feet at 2:30pm on July 6th to 31.66 feet at 12:30am on July 7th. At its peak, Chantal caused the Haw River to rise to a whopping 32.5 feet at 4:45am on July 7th, 14 feet above flood level, only four inches shy of the River’s record high in 1996. Forty miles of the River are in Alamance County, spanning from the Northwest of the county to the Southeast. Many homes, churches, and bridges along the river were destroyed in the storm. Part of I-40/85 was closed in Alamance County because of the height of the Haw River on Monday morning.

Source: Carolina Journal

As I visited Saxapahaw in the Southeastern corner of the county, many roads were closed off the main street (Swepsonville-Saxapahaw Road). I quickly learned that this small town on the Haw River was one of the areas most devastated by the storm just two months earlier. The bridge on Church Road, connecting Saxapahaw to I-87, serves as the only way across the River into the rest of the county and is the only way for several miles in either direction, and was completely submerged by a foot of water. Tree limbs and debris littered the bridge well after the waters went down. Even when I went across it almost two months later, dozens of fallen trees were visible right off the bridge next to the river that had receded to less than two feet.

Not only was the bridge in dire need of cleaning, but many cars were also destroyed further into town. Apartment parking lots, the general store, and middle school parking lots were flooded. I learned from many locals that the local church was badly flooded, almost reaching the roof. After the water receded, the church floors were still covered in about a foot of water. Locals said that they knew rains were coming, but the flooding occurred so fast they could not react fast enough to save their belongings. Water rescues were needed across the county and dozens were forced to evacuate their homes. Emergency shelter and food distribution was necessary across the county, even three weeks later.

Source: Facebook

Water samples are still being taken across the county in homes and businesses to ensure healthy water access for Alamance’s residents. Tropical Storm Chantal devastated the county, but is sadly not a unique cautionary tale in today’s America. Extreme weather is becoming more common as small storms are magnified by increasing temperatures across in the ocean and in the air. Rains are getting stronger and floods are getting higher, devastating more and more communities every day. These impacts can be felt for months, even years to come and affect the health of the local community, their livelihoods, and the delicate ecosystems hundreds of millions of Americans hold so dear.

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