Voluntary evacuation ordered for northwest Charlotte neighborhood

CHARLOTTE — As Hurricane Helene approached the Gulf Coast, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management officials issued a voluntary evacuation order near Mountain Island Lake on Thursday night.

It includes areas around Riverside Drive, Lake Drive, Riverhaven Drive and parts of Hart Road in northwest Charlotte.

Emergency services officials are ready to assist residents at Cooks Memorial Presbyterian Church.

The weather system is set to bring at least several inches of rain to the area, which prompted the voluntary evacuation.

Some of the residents being asked to evacuate live right along the Catawba River, which flows south from the western end of Mountain Island Lake.

Christopher and Whitney Olivares bought their house along the riverbank in 2021. It was a rental home initially, until they moved in last year.

“It’s our first flood,” the couple said.

They’ve heard about previous floods in the neighborhood, but they plan to stay to ride out this storm.

“A lot of the houses are lifted here,” said Christopher Olivares. “Our entire first level is a floodable garage, so the house is kind of built for it. All the living spaces are on levels two and three.

Fire and police crews passed out flyers asking residents to evacuate around noon on Thursday, and again around 8 p.m. But the evacuation was not mandatory.

“I don’t know how we feel about [staying] yet,” said Olivares. “It’s kind of like one of those things that people tell you about. And I’m just kind of hoping for the best. But, I mean, midnight might roll around and we’re all kind of freaking out about it. We’ll see, it’s a little unknown.

They said they may pack into their Suburban and sleep in it tonight – with their five dogs.

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