Heavy rain floods roads and creates sinkholes in Wake County

During Wednesday’s severe weather, several roads in Wake County flooded, creating issues for the evening commute.

Olive Chapel Rd in Apex flooded, and the street collapsed under the weight of the water, creating a sinkhole. According to NCDOT, the road will be closed until November. People living near the sinkhole tell WRAL this is the worst flooding that they have seen, even worse than Hurricane Helene and tropical depression Chantal. 

“ It’s fairly common when we get a good rain to have some standing water here,” said Todd Lemenick, who lives nearby. “But nowhere remotely close to a road washing away. That’s wild.”

Many people in neighborhoods off of Olive Chapel Rd are concerned about the road closure and the impact it may have on traffic. 

“We ride our scooters through here all the time, and it’s a very high-traffic area. This is not good,” said Lemenick.

In other parts of the county, the heavy downpour took its toll as well. Richardson Road was closed due to heavy flooding. 

“ When I saw it, I thought ‘this is really high.’ I mean, I received reports that Richardson Road had a lot of water, but to see it like this, this is pretty concerning,” said Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert.

On Stonender Way in Holly Springs, the flooded road was impassable. The street was closed because officials could not tell how deep the water was or what was underneath.  

There were no reported injuries in Wake County due to Wednesday’s severe weather. 

While no one was hurt in the flooding on Wednesday in Wake County, two people were killed by rushing flood waters in Spring Hope after they were caught trying to cross a flooded road.

More on Wednesday’s flooding:

Flooding safety resources: