Location: US 29/74 at Catawba St. (NC 7) in Belmont
County: Gaston
Original Date Cast: 2015
The 1916 flood had a significant impact on western North Carolina and the western Piedmont, leaving unprecedented destruction. Two hurricanes in mid-July, making landfall at Mobile and at Charleston, dumped heavy rains on the mountains and the western Piedmont. Nineteen inches in 24 hours were recorded in Mitchell County. Practically all rail lines west of Winston-Salem were affected with scarcely a mile of track between Statesville and Asheville left undamaged.
Photographs document the damage, showing piles of debris, massive mountain slides, and rail ties left swinging. Approximately eighty deaths are attributed to the flood. Trains were stranded on lines between terminals and passengers marooned. Southern Railway launched a massive rebuilding effort, setting up camps for 2,300 laborers and completing much of the work in six weeks.
The flood effectively divided the state, disrupting commerce by destroying nine railroads and all highway bridges across the Catawba River and many across the Yadkin. The loss of newly constructed bridges across the Catawba at Eufola and Belmont, both on Sunday, July 16, posed challenges for Southern Railway.
At Belmont twenty-one railroad employees were working with a derrick to remove debris from the piers when the bridge fell; ten drowned. Spectators gathered along the banks of the river and witnessed the catastrophe, heralded by the loud crack, like a pistol shot, as the trestle gave way. Bloodied and bruised survivors, some of whom spent the night clinging to trees and planks floating in the river, recounted their stories to reporters.
Mills in the region, as well as power dams and electric plants, suffered heavy damage. Estimated property losses totaled $22 million. Modern dams, manmade lakes, and other flood controls put in place since 1916 make it unlikely that the event will ever be duplicated.
References:
Floods of July, 1916: How the Southern Railway Organization Met an Emergency (1917)
W. M. Bell, The North Carolina Flood, July 14, 15, 16, 1916 (n.d.)
Ina W. and John J. Van Noppen, Western North Carolina since the Civil War (1973)
Charlotte Observer, July17-20, 1916
Charlotte News, July 17-24, 1916