Crabtree Valley Mall Flooded
By Katie Cline

Raleigh resident Daphne Clinard went in the mall for lunch and came out to a flooded car.

“I walked through the doors of the mall and saw my car under 8 feet of water, completely flooded, it was almost over the roof,” she said.

When the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto moved through the Triangle on Wednesday more than seven inches of rain fell in Wake County. Crabtree Valley Mall closed at noon that day, but for some people it was too late.

“I was really shocked to say the least, it happened in a matter of 15 of 20 minutes it just happened so fast. It was something like I’ve never seen before. It was just water running by, it kept getting deeper and deeper,” Clinard said.

Several stores on the bottom floor of the mall are still closed. Crews are busy drying them out and cleaning them up. For some stores, the damage was to their bottom line.

“On the following day people thought we were closed, we got calls all day, so sales were really down that day,” said Janika Mangum, assistant manager of Catherine’s clothing.

Workers are unsure how long it will take to clean up all the mess a little tropical storm named Alberto left in its wake.