See the August 27 Rainfall Map.

Water depths in some parts of Mecklenburg County exceeded the "100-year flood" level. Record flood heights were recorded on 19 local stream gauges.

Two months before the flood, Mecklenburg County had used a federal grant to help purchase the Cavalier Apartments in a floodplain buyout. The destructive flood created new urgency in plans to relocate the tenants, then tear down the entire complex.

One year later, every trace of the Cavalier Apartments was gone. The floodplain has been restored as open space.

The 2008 flooding also prompted Mecklenburg County to spend nearly $6 million of local money to buy 37 flooded homes that met specific criteria. Quick Buy goals:

• Buy the property and tear it down before residents make repairs to a home that is very likely to flood again.
• Return the floodplain to open space.
• Provide a benefit for the entire community such as greenway along the creek or features in the floodplain to remove water pollution.

This video describes the 2008 Quick Buy program.

Participating in the Floodplain Buyout Program is voluntary. After buying and removing the Cavalier Apartments and the Quick Buy homes in 2009, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services restored another 27 acres of urban floodplain to open space.