What happens when you rebuild a downtown on higher ground?
Two flood-prone North Carolina towns rebuilt their downtown districts in new places. Did it work?
I’ve been to a lot of small towns in across this state, and a lot of them want to rebuild or revitalize their quaint little downtown areas. But in Eastern North Carolina, that can often present a problem. Storms of all types are getting bigger, dumping heavy rains, and causing rivers and streams to flood more often. That often means some towns’ most historic spots are often dealing with high water.
That’s why I found this story from Border Belt Independent so interesting. In at least two places, town leaders have decided to build new downtown districts in higher ground. That seems like a pretty smart and straightforward decision, but as always, it comes with a price. This is a story about who pays that price, and who can’t, or won’t. Many thanks to Border Belt Independent for letting me republish this story here. -
Two flood-prone NC towns rebuilt downtown districts on higher ground. Did it work?
By Rachel Baldauf / Border Belt Independent
After Hurricane Florence pummeled Bladen County in 2018, Amanda West had to start over.
West, the owner of Over Yonder Coffee, Teas, & Creamery in Bladenboro, said flood waters were 3 feet deep inside her store. The cooler and refrigerator were destroyed, along with 42 tubs of ice cream.
“We lost everything,” she said. “So we just took everything out and started over.”
Over Yonder moved to Bladenboro’s New Town Square, a 13,000-square-foot business center that opened off Main Street early this year. The building is above the floodplain, and tenants like West hoped the new complex would keep their businesses safe when flood waters came again.
Tropical Storm Debby was a slow and relentless test earlier this month. The storm dumped more than 11 inches of rain in Bladen County, closing all roadways into Bladenboro.
Over Yonder and the six other businesses inside the New Town Square stayed dry, even as other businesses just steps from the complex flooded.
For Chuck Heustess, Bladen County’s economic development director, Tropical Storm Debby showed that making the investment to build on higher ground was worth it.
“We’ve proven the theory now,” he said. “We weren’t sure how successful it was going to be, and it’s been far more successful than any of us even imagined.”
In the Columbus County town of Fair Bluff, 25 miles southwest of Bladenboro, town officials had a similar idea. In June, the town unveiled Uptown Fair Bluff, a new business center on higher land a few blocks from the town’s historic and flood-prone downtown.
The new building, which has space for 16 businesses, stayed dry two weeks ago.
Creating new downtown districts from scratch in more flood-resistant areas is expensive. But for hurricane-battered towns in southeastern North Carolina, local officials say it’s necessary for the long-term success of business districts that often serve as the heart of the community.
“If your downtowns die, then slowly your towns are going to die, which means that your county is going to suffer as well,” Heustess said.
Bladenboro and Fair Bluff were both hit hard by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. Fair Bluff, which lies along the Lumber River, was inundated during both storms.
“Every business downtown got flooded out and did not come back,” Fair Bluff Mayor Billy Hammond said.
After the storms, downtown Bladenboro went from having more than 30 businesses to about four, Heustess said.
Bladenboro’s New Town Square was built using a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and a $1.6 million donation from the nonprofit Bladen Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial.
“There was a time a year ago where there’d be literally almost nobody downtown,” Heustess said. “And now since the town square has been built, it’s a very vibrant downtown.”
The 25,000-square-foot business center in Uptown Fair Bluff was paid for using $6 million in state and federal economic development and disaster recovery funds.
Kaitlin Cox, the owner of River’s Edge Hair Co. in Uptown Fair Bluff, hopes the new business center will spark growth. Cox’s salon, which had its opening day on Tuesday, was one of the first businesses to move into the complex. A bakery, a seafood market, a computer repair business, a restaurant, a furniture store and a tobacco shop are set to open soon, Hammond said.
Cox owned a salon in downtown Fair Bluff during Hurricane Florence. When the storm passed, Cox had to use a boat and don waders to try and salvage equipment from the flooded building. “It was scary.”
In the coming months, Fair Bluff’s nearly 100-year-old downtown will be demolished.
“Our older people that have lived here for all their lives say they hate to see it be torn down,” Hammond said. “But it’s time for it to go because it’s become a safety hazard.”
Other businesses struggle
The businesses that remain along Bladenboro’s Main Street are now faced with a difficult decision: stay in their current buildings and risk the threat of flooding, or move.
Since Mark Hester, the owner of The Medicine Shoppe, moved to his current space on Main Street in 2009, the building has flooded four times. During Hurricane Florence, flood waters reached 4 feet inside the store.
As Tropical Storm Debby approached two weeks ago, Hester prepared by moving merchandise and placing sandbags around the store’s entrance. Still, the store flooded with 11 inches of water.
“I’d been preparing for a flood, but you’ve got to keep functioning,” Hester said. “You can’t take everything up.”
Though the flood waters receded by the next day, everything in the store had to be sanitized and put back in place. “The back still looks like hand grenades went off.”
While Hester isn’t currently planning to move his business, he said he’s looking into new ways that he can flood-proof the building.
Market on Main, a furniture and home decor store located across the street from The Medicine Shoppe, also flooded. Owner Beth Dowless and volunteers spent hours moving furniture out of the store. They put other merchandise on tables “and prayed for the best,” she said.
After the storm, volunteers helped clean the floors, rearrange the furniture and set up dehumidifiers.
‘We can’t do this every time’
While business owners in Bladenboro and Fair Bluff are celebrating the success of the new business centers, they know Tropical Storm Debby could have been a lot worse.
Hurricane Florence dumped nearly 3 feet of rain on Bladen County – more than three times the amount of rainfall brought by Debby.
Weather experts say storms will become stronger as the planet warms, prompting concerns about more major flooding in southeastern North Carolina.
Hester said it’s clear that flooding has become more frequent. “It only happened every 20 years or something,” he said. “It wasn’t this frequent.”
Dowless said moving merchandise and cleaning the store every time it floods is taxing. She hopes to move her business to higher ground.
“We can’t do this every time,” she said.
A great bit of reporting on how some North Carolinians are adapting to climate change. Thanks.