Photo from Our State Magazine
The Great Flood of 1916, as it was often called, was the worst flooding in recorded history to hit Asheville and western North Carolina.
It all began with a Category 3 hurricane that made landfall in the Gulf between Biloxi and Mobile, Alabama during the night on July 5-6. By July 7th and 8th, it was a tropical storm centered over central Alabama but it's rain was already beginning to affect western North Carolina which had already had a wetter than normal summer. It had started raining on July 5th and didn't stop for 6 days. The water table was full but the Appalachia's were used to flooding. This was substantial but not disastrous. So far.
Most of the heavier rain had stayed to the south, primarily over South Carolina and Georgia, although Rock House and Highlands, just outside of the French Broad River Watershed, recorded 16.93 inches and 15.37 inches of rain, respectively. July 12th and 13th saw a Category 3 hurricane sitting just off the coast of Charleston, S.C. It made landfall on the 14th and then weakened to a tropical storm and moved through Columbia and on towards Greenville, S.C. By the time the storm reached Fontana Lake in the Smoky Mountains west of Asheville on the 15th, it had become a weak low pressure system. While the French Broad River at Asheville had received little rain in the last 4 days, it had receded back to exactly flood stage at 4 feet.
That afternoon, the heavy rains began. Within 24 hours, Grandfather Mountain reported 22.22 inches, 14.7 inches at Brevard, 12.32 inches at Hendersonville, and a mere 2.98 inches in Asheville. On July 16th, dams broke on the French Broad River, sending a flash flood down the river and causing it to rise rapidly in Asheville. At 8 a.m., it was at 13.5 feet. At 9 a.m., it was 18.6 feet and by 10 a.m., the river gauge had washed away, along with the bridge to which it was mounted. It eventually crested at 23.1 feet. The Swannanoa River joins the French Broad near the entrance to the Biltmore Estate and it crested at 20.7 feet.
Asheville was marooned for weeks. Bridges were washed out, people were stranded in trees, houses floated away, and more than 80 people drowned. And the water was heading to the east.
The Catawba River, along which many cotton mills were located, was rising throughout the day on Sunday, the 16th. Hundreds of cotton bales clogged the river, along with houses, sheds, chicken coops and even an entire warehouse from the Rhodhiss Manufacturing Company. At Mount Holly, the river crested at an estimated 45.5 feet. North of Belmont, railroad workers worked diligently to remove debris from the bridge so the freight trains could continue carrying produce northward. Around 5:30 p.m., just after a load of peaches had passed, 19 men were on the bridge when it collapsed and they were all swept into the river. Some were crushed by the falling steel and others drowned. By the end, 10 had died.
Many miles of railroad track were either washed away or made impassable by landslides. Most bridges were too low for the debris being swept down the river and all bridges across the Catawba River, except one railroad bridge near Marion, were washed away. The flood even destroyed the Lake Wylie dam and the Lookout dam. Most of the cotton mills were flooded to some extent or another. The bridge below Laboratory was washed away and there was 3 feet of water in the lower level of the Laboratory Mill. Many dams and mills were damaged or destroyed.
To be continued...