Heavy rain creates major mess off Town Mountain Road

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Too much rain took out part of an Asheville road Friday and threatened homes below.

A relentless flow of water undermined the asphalt along Old Toll Road and sent it sliding. A utility pole was also threatened by the slide.

"We need to get Duke Energy involved," Asheville Public Works director Greg Shuler said. "I don't know if you've called them yet, but their pole is in jeopardy."

Shuler was running the operation on scene, talking with his crews, taking photos and keeping an eye on a major problem still in progress.

"We don't know if this is finished moving yet," Shuler said as the road continued to crumble.

Stephan Pruitt was headed home along Old Toll Road, when he came around the bend and saw the damage.

"The first thing I noticed was the power line sagging, and I was, like, 'Oh man,'" Pruitt said. "So, I was kind of like watching the power line and then I rolled up, and I was, like, 'I probably should be more worried about the hole."

Gail Britt lives on Blue Briar Road, directly below where the slide started.

"Pretty impressive, pretty scary," Britt said. "At times, we could hear the earth cracking and the slide getting bigger."

The gushing water and mud just missed her neighbor's home across the street.

Britt remembers her gut reaction.

"'Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, how bad is this?" And just wondering where it was going to go," she said.

It appears to be staying its course -- straight down the mud gully it carved out of the mountainside.

City officials said it's considered a major slope failure, will take a considerable amount of time to stabilize and to fix.