'It caught me off guard': Man trapped in car amid Goldsboro flooding

A man found himself trapped inside his car after unknowingly driving into floodwater in Goldsboro.

Robert Lewis said he was on his way to visit his dad at The Goldsboro Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center when the water on Tampa Street caught him off-guard.  

“You really couldn’t tell how deep it was,” Lewis said.

Lewis said it was the help of a good Samaritan that got him out, and now he is asking questions of the city about why this issue exists.
Lewis said he saw no warning signs when driving down the street.  

“This is a very important area because you have ambulances and vehicles coming in and out. Something needs to be done about this.”

The Goldsboro Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center said it has had issues with flooding overtime. It said it stays in touch with the city, and Goldsboro Public Works has come out multiple times to clean leaves out of the drainage ditch.

WRAL reached out to the City of Goldsboro to see if it has any long-term solutions to flooding in the area.

In a statement it said it added Tampa Street to a list that needs regular maintenance, and it is working on a long-term solution to the local flooding issues by way of the Goldsboro Floodprint project. The goal of that project is to increase the volume of flow and storage downstream to stop flooding in the most prone areas.   

Lewis said he hopes those solutions come sooner rather than later.

“I live at the coast. I’ve been through 18 hurricanes, and I’ve never had anything like this happen.”

For the time being, the city has cleared out the leaves once again.  

WRAL has tips if you do become trapped in your car in floodwater.