Trent River in Trenton reaches second-highest level in history

A playground on 10 Mile Road in Trenton surrounded by water Monday. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News

TRENTON — Jones County continues to deal with flooding across the area with numerous pathways closed.

An 11 a.m. press conference will be held by Jones County officials at the Neuse Regional Library in Kinston, focusing on current conditions and what's in store for communities adjacent to the Trent River. The National Guard and other rescue crews have been deployed to help residents evacuate as the river was at 21.75 feet as of Saturday morning according to the National Weather Service.

The Trent River is already at its second-highest point on record, surpassing Hurricane Matthew’s 18.48 feet in 2016 and only topped by Hurricane Floyd, which hit 28.33 feet on Sept. 17, 1999.

Despite the Trent River not cresting as high as Floyd, Trenton resident Bea Harriet said her area hadn’t previously experienced flooding like this, with rising waters on Old New Bern Road preventing her from reaching her home.

“It didn’t flood (here) during Matthew,” Harriet said. “It didn’t even make it this far during Floyd—it stopped down at the curb beyond the house.”

Tyler Hardison said the flood happened suddenly and forced a change of plans.

“The water started coming up (Sunday) morning between 1 and 4 a.m.,” Hardison said. “We’ve been staying with relatives in Trent Woods.”

Residents weren’t the only ones affected, as Smithfield arborists Justin Joy and Bo O’Byrne struggled to make it to their destination, faltering in Trenton due to the flooding.

“We have a motel in Jacksonville to get to,” Joy said. “We knew it was bad, but we thought it would be alright.”

O’Byrne said the two garnered information about roadways, but new obstacles came into the picture.

“We heard from a bunch of different tree guys ‘you can get in, but have to drive through water to get through to Jacksonville,’” O’Byrne said. “We weren’t getting through this.”