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How Mebane's library adapted after closing in the wake of Chantal

Image shows the Haw River
Paul Garber/WFDD
The Haw River near Saxapahaw. During the storm that hit central North Carolina Sunday, the river crested at a near-record 32-and-a-half feet, closing roads and causing widespread damage.

Much of the fallout from the floods of Tropical Storm Chantal resolved soon after the waters receded. Other problems plagued central North Carolina throughout the week.

Flooding of the Graham-Mebane Water Treatment plant led to severe restrictions.

The Mebane Branch of Alamance County Libraries was not spared from the flood-related closings.

Alamance County Public Libraries Director Susana Goldman says there was no structural damage to the library, but the storm was still disruptive.

“We're in the middle of our summer reading program, which means usually kids and families are active and in and out and want to do things,” she says. “The library provides programming that we've had to either reschedule or cancel.”

Goldman says a bookmobile was placed in front of the library so patrons could still get their reading materials.

Alamance County officials have also set up a call center for residents with questions about flood damage, water and septic issues and other concerns in the aftermath of the storm. The number is 336-790-0440.

Some places in the region got more than eight inches of rain from Chantal. In Chatham County, peaks reached nearly a foot.

The National Weather Service Office in Raleigh confirmed four area tornadoes connected with the remnants of the tropical storm, including one each in Mebane and Snow Camp.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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