Chantal triggered deadly flash flooding in North Carolina. Now it’s bringing rain to the Mid-Atlantic

WRAL, RICK HERRERA, CNN

By CNN Meteorologists Taylor Ward, Briana Waxman, Mary Gilbert

(CNN) — Chantal brought heavy, flooding rain and dangerous beach conditions to the Carolinas over the weekend, setting off life-threatening flash flooding Sunday in central parts of North Carolina that killed at least one person and prompted dozens of rescues.

Chantal was the first named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season to hit the United States, flooding properties and prompting rescue efforts. It made landfall in South Carolina early Sunday morning as a tropical storm and became a tropical depression a few hours later as it moved north.

The system’s main threat – heavy rain – persisted Sunday despite its change in status.

Widespread flash flooding hit much of North Carolina’s Orange, Alamance and Chatham counties Sunday evening after 4 to 7 inches of rain, “with localized amounts in excess of 8 inches,” fell, the National Weather Service said Sunday night, noting at the time that numerous water rescues had occurred and some homes had flooded.

The flooding in Chatham County turned deadly Sunday night. Sandra Portnoy Hirschman, 83, died after she drove into floodwater and her car was swept about 100 feet off the roadway, according to State Highway Patrol public information officer Christopher Knox. She was found just before midnight.

In Durham County, just northwest of Raleigh, the Durham Fire Department performed more than 80 water rescues Sunday night and assisted the nearby Chapel Hill Fire Department with 20 additional rescues, the department said on social media Monday.

The Eno River, which runs through Durham and Orange counties in North Carolina, rose around 20 feet in about four hours Sunday evening and hit a new record high water level just after midnight, according to the National Weather Service. It crested at 25.6 feet high near Durham – about 24 feet above normal and 2 feet higher than the previous flood record set during Hurricane Fran in 1996.

The fire department has finished rescue operations in the flooded areas, David Swain, the deputy chief of emergency services, told CNN Monday afternoon, adding “the water has receded somewhat, but the area remains flooded.”

Rick Herrera, a resident of Moore County in North Carolina, said floodwater smashed into his basement, breaking things and moving many things in his home. “It pushed the refrigerator in… I was trying to get my wife and my father in law out of the rushing water. We didn’t want to get trapped or pinned by anything. It was a scary moment,” he told CNN affiliate WRAL.

In Lee County, trees were seen uprooted and destroyed and some mobile homes were left destroyed by strong gusts of wind, according to video from WRAL.

Chantal came ashore around 4 a.m. ET Sunday near Litchfield by the Sea, South Carolina, according to the hurricane center, about 10 to 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach. The tropical storm was packing sustained winds between 50 and 60 mph at landfall, with stronger gusts. Chantal is the third named storm of the Atlantic season — a mark usually hit around early August.

The system lost its tropical status while the worst impacts were winding down early Monday, but periods of rain could still cause some flooding issues for other parts of the Mid-Atlantic through the evening, including portions of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Beach conditions along much of the Eastern Seaboard will remain hazardous through the early week.

Outside of the Southeast, most of the country had ideal conditions for July Fourth weekend, particularly in the Northeast and West. The Southeast is likely to dry out by Tuesday.

Texas and the Upper Midwest could continue to see strong to severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail early this week. Torrential rainfall triggered deadly flooding in Texas early Friday morning as rivers rushed beyond their banks and flooded nearby campgrounds and homes.

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CNN’s Ritu Prasad contributed to this report.