'Hope and pray for the best.' Small eastern North Carolina town fights flooding

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— One small town in eastern North Carolina knows the impact flooding can have better than just about anywhere else.

Seven Springs residents say they’ll keep rebuilding, no matter how many times they get knocked down. For decades, the town has been hammered by flooding from the Neuse River.

Those who’ve weathered the storm say it’s because they have a town worth fighting for.

“We just cringe and hope and pray for the best. That’s all we can do,” said Jackie Rouse.

With North Carolina facing what NOAA predicts as an above-average hurricane season this year, the risk of storm damage is on everyone’s mind in Wayne County — and for good reason.

“I’ve seen it [flood] four times,” said Rouse. “I mean, literally, it looks like the [Nesue] River is coming on Main Street. There’s water everywhere.”

Seven Springs has seen catastrophic flooding from the Neuse River due to hurricanes multiple times since the 90s. Most recently, during Hurricane Florence in 2018.

Rouse runs Mae’s Restaurant, the only businesses in Seven Springs that hasn’t closed down due to flood damage.

“The other ones opted not to come back. After four floods, it was more than I think they can stand,” said Rouse.

Mae’s serves as a gathering place for the town’s 100 residents, many of whom have lost everything to flooding multiple times, including 96-year-old Thurston Quinn.

“I lost my house and two mobile homes,” described Quinn.

Data from FEMA shows 9 homes in Seven Springs were bought in 2018 because they were such a high flood risk, but some in the town said they want to see steps taken to stop floods before they can do damage.

“I believe, if the river was dredged out it wouldn’t prevent flooding, but it wouldn’t be near the magnitude that it is now,” said Wayne Sutton.

Despite the risks, those in Seven Springs say when the next disaster comes, they won’t back down — they’ll rebuild.

“I don’t know of anywhere else that I really would like to go,” said Rouse. “This is Seven Springs. This is the heart of the town, and I like being here.”

“I do know that everybody wants to live in Seven Springs,” added Quinn.