Walking his bike through the mess along Bolin Creek Trail, 33-year Chapel Hill resident Loren Hintz said he has never seen a flood this bad. “This is more than Hurricane Fran, and in terms of businesses, I think every business that I’ve talked to the water is three or four feet higher than it’s ever been,” he said. “So it’s a lot, lot more.” The intense flooding brought by Tropical Depression Chantal in early July devastated parts of Orange County, including several of the walking and biking trails around Chapel Hill. As an avid cyclist, Hintz bemoaned the damage along Bolin Creek, where he had to dismount at the barriers blocking off the unusable bike trail. A teacher with a 48-year career in ecological biology, he also warned that floods will be more frequent and more severe if green spaces are not preserved. “Preserving more green space, changing the state law which has gotten rid of protection for intermittent streams, I think that’s really important,” he said. “Another thing w...