Hurricane Matthew swept through Anson County last weekend, tearing down trees, dropping power lines and temporarily disrupting the county’s 911 system.

Jeff Waisner, director of Anson County Parks and Recreation, said Monday that the 911 system was affected briefly last Saturday afternoon, and that the server was reset to fix it.

Otherwise, county buildings suffered only a few leaks, he said.

Little Park fared better than he expected.

“We had quite a few limbs down, and the most extensive damage was that it blew down about 80 feet of fence around the tennis court,” Waisner said. “That seems to be something that happens just about any time we have a strong wind… We’ll get that repaired as quick as we can and hopefully won’t have anything else for awhile.”

Most of Duke Energy’s 5,433 customers lost power during the storm, with the first reported outage occurring at 7:11 a.m. Saturday.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, the outage map on Duke’s website reported that 2,030 customers still had no power, and estimated that the latest time the power would be restored would be at 11:45 p.m. Sunday.

Pee Dee Electric reported that no customers in Anson County were out of power as of 6 p.m. Monday, though some customers, including 136 in Richmond County, still had no power.

The county opened a shelter at Wadesboro Primary School from 2-7 p.m. Sunday. The school system held an optional work day on Monday and a two-hour delay for students on Tuesday.

The Pee Dee River at Blewett Falls Lake went from about 175 feet at 4 a.m. last Saturday morning to 181.1 feet later that day, according to a hydrograph from the National Weather Service. Flood stage is 179 feet.

North of Burnsville along the Anson-Stanly county line, the Rocky River peaked at 16.02 ft. Saturday from just under 1 ft. last Friday afternoon. Flood stage is at 20 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Calls to Rodney Diggs, Anson County Fire Marshall and Emergency Services Director, were not returned by press time Monday evening.

SILVER LINING

Although the Pee Dee Wildlife Refuge suffered downed trees and minor flooding, the heavy rainfall helped save the refuge thousands of dollars.

The refuge floods part of its land to serve as a feeding and resting haven for waterfowl.

Normally, the process costs the refuge $12,000. Thanks to the rain, part of the work was already done for them.

“When we flood impoundments, we flood about 200 acres two feet deep,” refuge manager J.D. Bricken said Monday. “It costs about $500 an inch approximately in diesel fuel to pump two feet.”

The rain saved the refuge about $3,500, Bricken said, adding that money will be used to cover other needs.

“We have to sacrifice other things in order to pay for the diesel, so we just won’t have to sacrifice as many things in maintenance and repair as we normally would,” Bricken said. “We’re never fully funded in flooding, so that just allows us to keep more of our maintenance budget.”

The refuge’s disabled hunt held over the weekend was “pretty much washed out,” Bricken said. The refuge had minor flooding in lower-lying areas, but no damage, he said. Some trees fell, including one that landed on a power line that was handled by staff from Pee Dee Electric.

“As far as actual storm damage, we did pretty good,” he said.

STATE-WIDE EFFECTS

Anson County fared well compared to other parts of the state.

The office of The Robesonian — a sister paper of the Anson Record based in Lumberton — was flooded during the storm. The Lumber River reached 24.39 ft. while flood stage is just 13 ft., breaking a record of 20.5 ft., according to the National Weather Service.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, the service predicted that the Lumber River will continue to rise to 24.6 ft. later this week.

The service predicted that many areas in the eastern part of the state will also see rivers rise or remain high throughout the week — higher than those from Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

The North Carolina Court System reported that many courthouses across the state closed their offices and court sessions.

At about 1:30 p.m. Monday, Gov. Pat McCrory’s office sent out a grim tweet: “This storm is not over in #NorthCarolina. Rivers, creeks and streams are not holding up. #MatthewNC”

As of 5 p.m. Monday, there were 11 confirmed deaths in North Carolina related to the storm, according to the governor’s office.

McCrory toured Fayetteville on Monday to survey the damage for himself.

“North Carolina is resilient, our people are strong and we are going to get through this together,” McCrory said in a press release on his website Monday. “This storm is still impacting people in a big way. You have got to see it to believe all the devastation that has occurred.”

Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.

Imari Scarbrough | Anson Record The Rocky River at the Anson-Stanly county line ran high on Sunday following heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew last weekend.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Hurricane-Matthew-Rocky-River-cropped-2-1.jpgImari Scarbrough | Anson Record The Rocky River at the Anson-Stanly county line ran high on Sunday following heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew last weekend.

William R. Toler | Anson Record Crews lift a utility pole into place in Rockingham on Sunday to restore electric service. Many parts of the state may not have power restored until Oct. 16.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_matthew_powerpole-1.jpgWilliam R. Toler | Anson Record Crews lift a utility pole into place in Rockingham on Sunday to restore electric service. Many parts of the state may not have power restored until Oct. 16.

By Imari Scarbrough

iscarbrough@civitasmedia.com