Boy Did it Rain

The Saxapahaw Flood of 2025

When I looked at the weather Sunday morning and decided it was going to be an indoor day with the kids, they were calling for three inches of rain. I found myself a bit irritated that they can never get the weather right because there was no way it was going to rain three inches. Well, I was right because it rained over 10 inches! Sitting in my house waiting for the power to go out, I listened as it poured for 10 straight hours. When I awoke Monday morning and headed out to cross the bridge, I wasn't prepared for the view as I rounded the bend. Saxapahaw was inundated. In a dozen years of being in the area, I'd never seen the water top the bridge. When the water finally began to recede midday Monday, the river had risen 32 feet. Since then, it's been a hell of a week.

I imagined that there would be tears and mourning and a stuporous malaise over the village. That is not what I found.

Within a few hours of the waters finding a better home south of here, everyone was gathered at the Ballroom to start helping. There was food, water, shovels, hazmat suits and a plan. Our community had organization, leadership and care. There were so many volunteers that people had to be asked to come back another day. Everyone brought what they had, whether a skill, equipment, funding or just encouragement and no one was left wanting for help or support. Having a business is nice but having a community is a treasure.

Amazingly, the shop was spared and through some loophole in the fragility of rural infrastructure, we didn't even lose power. Animals came in as usual, and we were free to help in the ways we could without having to manage our own disaster. Thank you to all of you who checked in on us. We felt real loved. Things are normal here at the shop, so come see us. All the businesses in town could use a little support. 

If you would like to make a donation to the businesses and families that suffered major losses in Saxapahaw, here is a link for that. We hope you have a great week and keep us in your thoughts. We got really lucky and aren't taking that for granted. 

-Jason