Weather extremes brought a full spectrum of conditions to Highlands over a three-day stretch from Monday through Wednesday.
After a mild weekend, heavy rains rolled into the area in the late hours of Monday night. In a 12-hour span, Highlands saw more than 4 inches of rainfall. The front also brought strong winds with gusts above 40 miles per hour.
Despite the severe weather conditions, the town’s infrastructure fared well and only brief and widespread power outages were reported.
“We were actually very fortunate given how much rain and wind we received in such a short amount of time,” Highlands Mayor Patrick Taylor said Monday. “We did have some localized flooding in spots, but overall there were no serious flooding issues. Obviously, our town crews are keeping an eye on areas where flooding may freeze overnight.”
While Highlands escaped the worst of the flooding, lower lying areas were not so fortunate. The biggest issue in the area was a washout of the shoulder on US64 in the Cullasaja Gorge. The NC Department of Transportation closed US64 at the intersection of Gold Mine Road on Monday afternoon. There is no timetable for when the road may reopen to vehicle traffic as NCDOT crews assess the damage and work to make repairs.
Motorists are instructed to use Buck Creek Road as a detour, or NC106 as an alternate route.
Wednesday morning’s commute was snarled both by the closure of US64 and the presence of a light dusting of snow that fell late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Some areas saw up to one inch of snow in the highest elevations and some sideroads were reportedly icy in spots.
Highlands School operated on a two-hour delay on Tuesday morning, and a three-hour delay on Wednesday morning with no busses on icy roads. All after school activities, including a full slate of basketball games against Cherokee, were cancelled on Tuesday.