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Pinehurst neighbors file lawsuit after dam failure during Tropical Storm Chantal
Moore County neighbors are preparing for potentially more flooding just months after Tropical Storm Chantal brought road washouts and dam failures.
Bands of rain moved through Pinehurst on Friday, the same area that saw four-eight inches of precipitation in July.
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Basements remain bare and dumpsters continue to line the backyards of homes in the Pine Grove Village community. On July 6, a dam failed off of Knoll Road North, sending water from Longleaf Lake downstream into three homes, nearly claiming the lives of a Moore County family.
“Our families are very far from recovered,” said Ricky Herrera, one of the flood victims. “Every storm now, every rain event we get is a threat.”
WRAL Investigates found North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality inspection reports that pointed to past problems at the same dam, most recently in 2024.
On Tuesday, the families of the damaged homes filed a lawsuit against U.S. Kids Golf: the company that owns the golf course where that dam stands. They accuse the company of negligence.
The lawsuit claims that the company failed to make necessary changes to at least eight DEQ warnings over the past 10 years. In one such warning in 2015, the DEQ stated the dam was in “poor condition,” and the principal spillway appeared to be “obstructed and abandoned.”
According to the lawsuit, the company also ignored warnings that the water level should be lowered in anticipation of tropical storms and hurricanes.
“[The defendant] refused to comply with the DEQ’s directives, refused to perform the necessary engineering studies, refused to take any remedial actions, and, upon information and belief, did not make any submissions to the DEQ, as required by the DEQ,” the lawsuit reads in part.
The Longleaf dam was not the only dam that failed in Moore County after Chantal.
The Crystal Lake dam also failed at Camp Easter Road and N.C. 2 in Southern Pines, leading to a severe washout that made the road impassable.
Chantal’s flooding also shut down the heavily trafficked Midland Road at U.S. 1 due to road washouts.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has had meetings heading into potentially more impacts this weekend. They’re looking at low-lying areas that are potentially more flood-prone, and areas that Chantal heavily impacted, to see how the repairs will hold up.
“There are only one or two pipe replacements that are still going on, and they’re for secondary roads, and one of them should be finished either today or early next week,” said NCDOT spokesperson Jonathan Rand.
Moore County Emergency Management said it’ll continue monitoring for potential rainfall and the potential for impacts early next week.
They currently have staff on standby in case an incident happens, though say they’re not currently concerned about any particular part of the county.