A small piece of U.S. 421 in western North Carolina collapsed as torrential rains caused a creek to flood and wash out the earth next to the road.

A retaining wall collapsed early Wednesday on the road in Wilkesboro near Wilkes Community College. A concrete barrier and some asphalt fell in about 2 a.m.

Officials reduced the highway to one lane southbound from Wilkesboro toward Winston-Salem.

Moravian Creek runs beside the highway there before emptying into the Yadkin river. Rescue teams evacuated more than a dozen residents Tuesday as the creek flooded near their homes.

A swift water rescue team in Catawba County pulled two men from the rain-swollen Jacobs Fork River after their canoe capsized.

The forecast calls for rain through Friday.

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