AccuWeather's Ali Reid reported live from Carolina Beach on Sept. 16 as people headed out from their homes to survey extreme flooding throughout the area and even catch some fish in the floodwaters.
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00:00Right now, we want to check in with Allie Reed in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
00:05And Allie, you've been talking to locals all afternoon, and I've heard this term so many
00:11times.
00:12I've never seen this before.
00:13Now, a lot of people have only been here 15 to 20 years.
00:18It's not like we're talking 60 or 70 years, but that's still a big statement to make when
00:23describing this tropical rainstorm.
00:26Yeah, absolutely.
00:29Many people this afternoon into this evening really just trying to assess the damage in
00:33their homes.
00:34A lot of loss that we're going to see from businesses and homeowners.
00:38I want to show you a few things here.
00:40You'll notice that throughout the area, big trucks like this are really making their way
00:44through town to really assess the damage.
00:46We've seen a number of live rescues, a fire truck, and a number of police crews just made
00:51their way through here within the last few minutes.
00:54I also want to explain one thing for you.
00:56Okay, let's see.
00:57Who are these guys?
00:58New Hanover Company Fire.
01:01We got different fire companies coming into Carolina Beach to help out this afternoon.
01:06Hi, guys.
01:07All right, they're hanging in.
01:10A few things I want to mention if we can.
01:12Andy, flip back the other way.
01:13Hold on.
01:14I'm getting tangled up.
01:15There you go.
01:16Yeah, come back this way.
01:17A few things.
01:18I don't know if we can see the guys anymore.
01:20At one point, there were two teens that were fishing in this parking lot over here, and
01:25I'm going to show you with my hands.
01:27They mentioned that a couple of their friends caught a red drumfish.
01:31For those that aren't aware what a red drumfish looks like, that's about this big.
01:35So people that are fishing in this water here are catching massive, massive fish that are
01:40swimming through the streets here.
01:42But the biggest thing right now is that many people are still dealing with the flooding.
01:46That's going to be a problem not only for today, but over the coming weeks and months
01:50as well.
01:51Many people waking up, again, deciding what they're really going to do here.
01:54A lot of them trying to get their cars out of water, as many people are stalled.
02:01And a lot of people in this community already helping each other out because they know what
02:05can happen in situations like this.
02:07We've seen people that are going up really just assisting as many people as they can
02:11because they don't have vehicles to get to right now.
02:14But a lot of people, again, just walking through the town, really getting a feel for what it
02:17looks like right now.
02:18And I just got to show you.
02:19I mean, this is just wild to me, guys.
02:21It really is.
02:22Look at this.
02:23This is North Lake Park Boulevard, completely underwater.
02:27I mean, I truly, again, as we've been talking about it throughout the day, Bernie, Jeff,
02:32an unnamed storm, certainly, but one that is not going to be forgotten.
02:36I can tell you that much.
02:37One that I won't forget.
02:38And I know a lot of people in this town, very devastated.
02:42And Allie, I have to ask you, has that been the biggest takeaway here, just the massive
02:47amount of flooding that you've seen in Carolina Beach?
02:54It really has.
02:55The flooding is the biggest deal here.
02:56A lot of people, yeah, they said, yeah, we got some rain.
02:58We got some wind.
03:00But the biggest thing right now is the flooding.
03:01And it's everywhere.
03:02It is widespread in Carolina Beach.
03:05Again, it's not just the street here.
03:07We're showing just a portion, a sliver of what this area really, truly looks like.
03:13Again, this goes miles, guys, miles of people underwater.
03:17All right, Allie Reed reporting from a flooded out Carolina Beach.
03:22And Allie, we'll stay in touch with you as we go through the rest of this evening.