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In North Raleigh the subdivisions Falls River and Bedford Falls come close to the Neuse River. They are not far below the Dam. Has there been any instance of severe flooding in the area or does the Dam regulate the water flow so that flooding does not take place?
Falls Lake does not have the same capacity as Jordan Lake, so the dam may need to release sooner after heavy rains to prevent an overflow.
I saw a story of severe flooding on the Neuse in 1999 closer to the coast because they let too much water out of the Falls Lake Dam.
Are there any areas near the Neuse River or Creeks in Wake County that you want to stay away from due to flooding when heavy rains or hurricanes saturate the area?
With houses going up everywhere, its just natural that developers will build as close to the rivers and creeks as land becomes harder to find.
There are definitely subdivisions along the Neuse river that flooded in the last 5 years, when discharges to the Neuse were roughly 6000 cfs (I believe this was in 2003). Not sure which ones. But have your eyes wide open on anything built on the neuse flood plain...there are subdivisions that will flood at releases above 6000 cfs. I would never consider buying anything that would flood at streamflows under 10,000 cfs. More than that if downstream of the confluence of Crabtree creek and the neuse (there's also been alot flooding along crabtree creek, which regularly reaches flows of 5,000 cfs on its own...thank all the developers who've been filling in wetlands to build subdivisions in raleigh over the last 30 years).
For historical perspective, after Fran in 1996, the release was around 7500 cfs. According to the USACE website, maximum capacity through the dam is 10,000 cfs. If the lake level fills to the point that water comes over the spillway, the release will be 40,000 cfs (came close during fran). The inflow to the lake was over 100,000 cfs (think Niagra falls), which was the highest inflow seen since they started keeping records...without the dam the flooding along the neuse would have been absolutely devastating (worse than seen downstream after floyd).
The takehome message here is that immediately downstream of the dam, it will likely take rainfall of historic proportions (ie back to back Frans) to top the spillway and create floods above 10,000 cfs. Further downstream, after crabtree creek and other tributaries come in, use even more caution.
There's oodles of data available at the USACE Falls dam site, and on the USGS streamflow website
Also take a look at county GIS records to get an idea of the historic flood plane for the Neuse and how close you are to it. Under anything less than catastrophic rainfall, the US Army Corps of Engineers regulates flow through the dam. If we get back to Hurricane Fran-like conditions, you're going to have more problems than just high water.
Interesting! Thanks for this gem of a post. I wonder if anyone in the Bedford area new of severe flooding in the area. I know Bedford wasn't there, but the land was there.
I recall looking at the elevations and 100yr flood plain documentation for the area in Falls River and it was a non-issue. However, I cannot recall where I found that information so I cannot re-confirm it. But your mortgage co. will require flood insurance if in fact it's in a known flood plain. Raleigh is extremely hilly and I happen to be "up" a hill and the development has a lot of significant drainage so I'm assuming it's generally a non-issue.
Resurrecting this post as it appears to have the most informed responses to the actual question about the Neuse flooding. My Mom came across some property in the River Boat Landing area just south of Buffaloe Rd. Of course it's near the river, and some of the properties are clearly in the 100 year flood plain according to the FIRM data I looked at. However, beyond reviewing the FIRM I'm having difficulty determining whether that area has specifically been flooded in the past.
Obviously history is no guarantee for future performance. However, history also repeats itself. So historic flooding in the area would lend more weight towards steering clear of those properties than no history and just a chance of future flooding.
iMAPS Information for New Users indicates the elevations where the river is at around 174 feet and the house itself is at around 186 feet, assuming I'm reading the elevations properly.
What does all this mean? Nothing I didn't already know. The house is by a river. Is there some additional piece of internet information I don't have that would allow me to better assess the risk?
WakeGOV.com - Stormwater Management Program
The Floodplain Contact List will give you the name of the person with jurisdiction over the area where the property is located. You can call them and ask specific questions.
The Neuse Dam did not exist 100 years ago. Did the creation of the Dam trigger a rewrite of the boundry lines for a 100 year flood or does the boundries remain the same as before the Dam was built? The Dam may have less control over the boundries the further downstream you are from it, simply due to all the creeks that flow into the river as it moves toward the ocean. I would think that the closer to the Dam you are, the more control the Dam has over flooding in that area.
I live in Oakcroft (Next to Bedford) -- and we are could even come remotely close to houses here (near dunn and not from from falls - we are 60' above falls lakes capacity). Further downstream -- maybe. The elevation appears to have a '35 foot difference between the river and first houses.. which is conceivable but... remember they control the release so it would have to be something major...
Unable to open flood map for wake county. Missing something ?
I had to use IE instead of Firefox to get it to work.
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But your mortgage co. will require flood insurance if in fact it's in a known flood plain. Raleigh is extremely hilly and I happen to be "up" a hill and the development has a lot of significant drainage so I'm assuming it's generally a non-issue.
Is there some additional piece of internet information I don't have that would allow me to better assess the risk?
