The National Weather Service says the Cashie River crested at near 14.6 feet early Thursday morning near the high school in Windsor. This puts the river in major flood stage (+13.0 Ft.) The river as holding steady and is expected to begin slowly falling by mid to late morning. The water in downtown Windsor may continue to slowly rise through early afternoon Thursday. The river is currently forecast to fall back below the minor flood stage of 8.0 Ft. by Friday afternoon/evening.
The Thursday morning crest was about 1 foot below the second highest crest of 15.69 feet on October 1st, 2010. The highest recorded peak was 18.52 feet on Sept. 16th, 1999 from Hurricane Floyd.
Mayor Hoggard of Windsor tells WITN's Heather King that the water downtown is still rising downtown and there is water in a number of businesses. Hoggard also says that if they get 12-18 more inches of water, it will be considered a catastrophic flood.
Flooding continues to impact many areas of Bertie County. More roads were closed early Thursday in addition to the ones shut down due to flooding on Wednesday. Bertie County Schools are closed for a second day Thursday.
The Cashie River jumped about seven feet in seven hours Wednesday afternoon.
Windsor Police Chief James Lane tells WITN's Lauren Smith that a ten-block area of downtown Windsor is currently flooding. Fire officials escorted a woman from her home this morning, since her property was surrounded by water. Chief Lane says that is the first person who called for a rescue from their home.
Chief Lane is asking people to avoid the downtown area of Windsor, including people who might want to "sightsee." He had specific instructions for people working at the prison: they should use US-17 Bypass to Wakelon Road Exit to get to work.