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CHARLOTTE -- Residents and city crews were left to clean up after a storm brought major flooding to parts of Charlotte on Sunday.

Mecklenburg County Stormwater officials say the storm caused Little Sugar Creek to rise 12 feet in just one hour. That left large wooden beams and other debris all along the waterway’s banks, forcing crews to get wet in the process of removing some of the mess.

“If a board falls on somebody, that’s not a good thing,” said Charles Morris, maintenance tech, who was concerned about safety of the crews on Monday. “We wanted to get it safe and clear.”

With what seems to be construction materials ending up in a creek, officials say the debris doesn’t seem to be what caused the backups and flooding. Instead, a lot of rain in a short period of time is to blame.

While they couldn’t monitor heavy debris, officials did watch rapidly rising water Sunday with their Flood Information and Notification System – a network of 105 rain and stream gauges monitoring water levels.

Through the system, various gauges on the waterways around Charlotte-Mecklenburg can send immediate electronic alerts on possible flooding straight to the Charlotte Fire Department.

The gauges are placed strategically around the county in residential and commercial areas prone to dangerous flooding. They update officials every 15 minutes throughout the day.