Florence's flooding causes caskets to surface at Goldsboro cemetery

By Candace Sweat, WRAL reporter

Goldsboro, N.C. —

Wayne County residents face a long road to recovery as parts of Goldsboro are still practically cut off from the rest of the state by floodwaters.

Goldsboro on Thursday was feeling the impact of Hurricane Florence with bumper to bumper traffic on N.C. Highway 117 and a cemetery that was completely underwater.

Elmwood Cemetery is position in such a way that heavy rain can easily cause flooding.

“But when we get a hurricane type rainfall, we actually have caskets that become disinterred down here,” said Rick Fletcher with the City of Goldsboro.

Three caskets came up from the ground as a result of Hurricane Florence and the flooding it caused.

“Water can actually penetrate some of the older ones and the tops, the lids pop off and they become disinterred,”Fletcher said.

Florence is long gone, but Goldsboro is still feeling its impact. Passing the cemetery, slow moving traffic backed up for hours and commute times more than tripled.

“Well, I’ve got to get home and normally it’s like a five minute drive,” said commuter Tripp Dail, who had been sitting in traffic for two hours.

“It’ll take you probably about two, two-and-a-half hours to get from here to Mount Olive and it ain’t but 20 minutes,” another commuter said.

The State Department of Insurance has set up a victim assistance center to help with questions regarding insurance after Hurricane Florence.