Feb 5 – Closing County-maintained Haw River Access Points During Flooding Events

From Chatham County Emergency Management on Feb 5:

The most recent river forecast shows the Haw River at Bynum peaking at 16.5 ft on Friday afternoon (Moderate flood stage is from 15-17’).  Based on our discussions in November 2018, Chatham County will close County-maintained access points at Bynum Beach, US 15-501, and US 64 E if the Haw River reaches, or is imminently approaching Moderate Flood Stage, according to the Haw River Near Bynum gauge (http://www.lowerhaw.org/river-levels).  Our goals are:

(1)    Reduce/eliminate the need for high risk rescues on the Haw as a result of paddlers attempting to navigate during extreme conditions

(2)    Prevent access and further damage to flooded parking lots and launches, and injury from submerged hazards

(3)    NOT to prevent river access to paddlers unnecessarily

According to the current timeline we will place A-frame barricades with reflective Road Closed signage and scene tape across the boat launch or entrance at each location by 9am on Friday.  Signage will remain up until the river drops below 15’ (at Bynum), estimated to be by 12pm on Saturday or later if there’s damage found.  We will post to the County’s Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/ChathamCountyNC) when it’s been closed/reopened.

We welcome feedback from the local paddling community after this weekend.