Woman dies in flood waters

HAVELOCK - A 79-year-old woman died this weekend after driving into a rain-flooded loading dock during intense thunderstorms.

Madeline Regina McCain, of 300 Ketner Blvd., Havelock, died Saturday at CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern, according to Havelock Police Chief G. Wayne Cyrus.

McCain had been at Beach Bingo in the Cherry Plaza Shopping Center and left around 11:50 p.m. Friday, Cyrus said.

He said another person left the business around 12:10 a.m. Saturday and found a car nose down in the water and McCain in the water of the flooded loading dock behind Dollar General in the shopping center.

"Another patron of the bingo pulled her out of the water and began CPR prior to EMS personnel arriving," Cyrus said.

Cyrus said emergency personnel from Cherry Point responded to the call because Havelock fire and EMS personnel had responded to a fire call on the other side of town.

Cyrus said McCain was unresponsive when emergency personnel first arrived, but they managed to get a pulse, and she was transported to the New Bern hospital.

Cyrus said the police department was notified later Saturday that McCain had died.

A series of strong thunderstorms moved through the area Friday night. Cyrus said flooding made nearby North Shepard Street impassable.

"There was a lot of standing water in all this area because of the heavy rains that night," he said.

According to John Cole, warning coordinator with the National Weather Service in Newport, Havelock received 3.3 inches of rain between 6 p.m. and midnight Friday.

"We were issuing a bunch of special weather statements that evening," Cole said.

The loading dock is about 36 feet across and extends nearly two thirds of the way across the throughway behind the buildings.

The dock is about 3 ½-feet deep at its deepest point and was almost completely filled with water Friday night as McCain's 2000 Chrysler plunged into the water.

"As heavy as it was raining, I can see, as poorly as it is lit, that this could have happened to anyone," Cyrus said. "That whole area was full of water. The rain and storm we had that night were very heavy."