Current:Home > NewsNorth Carolina floods: Lake Lure Dam overtops with water, but remains in tact, officials say -Zenith Investment School
North Carolina floods: Lake Lure Dam overtops with water, but remains in tact, officials say
View
Date:2025-04-14 07:02:53
As Helene weakens, the now-tropical storm's strong winds and heavy rain continue to wreak havoc across the Southeast U.S., including in North Carolina where at least one county has ordered evacuations.
Rutherford County's Emergency Management ordered residents who live on certain roads to evacuate to higher areas due to water overtopping the Lake Lure Dam, according to a Facebook post shared by the government office Friday morning.
Emergency officials warned in a 6 p.m. ET Facebook post that Lake Lure Dam water levels are now receding. Emergency personnel have rescued more than 25 people through "swift water rescue."
Hours earlier the department said water was "cresting the Dam and flowing around the side walls," emergency management said on Facebook.
"Structural supports have been compromised but the Dam wall is currently holding," according to the post. "Evacuations have occurred from the Dam to Island Creek Road. Evacuation sirens are sounding downstream of the Dam. Emergency personnel are working with the structural engineers and are going house to house to ensure all citizens have been evacuated. Evacuees are being transported temporarily to Ingles in Lake Lure."
Both updates came after the Rutherford County Emergency Management reported "catastrophic flows along the Broad River into Lake Lure" were overtopping the dam, resulting in major flooding downstream, per the National Weather Service (NWS).
Officials released a list of roads on which residents are ordered to evacuate. You can view the list on the Rutherford County Emergency Management Facebook page.
Emergency management also asked residents to remain home if they are not in an evacuation zone as "roads are hazardous with an insurmountable number of trees and electrical lines that are down," according to a Facebook post shared Friday afternoon.
The dam is roughly 30 miles southeast of Asheville.
Flood warnings issued
Flood warnings have been issued for several counties and towns in Western North Carolina, including Avery, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes and Boone.
A 4-year-old was killed and others were injured in a wreck in Catawba County on Thursday that occurred as Helene's outer bands were slamming the state. In Charlotte, a person died and another was hospitalized after a tree fell on a home just after 5 a.m. Friday, according to the Charlotte Fire Department.
“This was a storm-related death,” Capt. John Lipcsak, a spokesperson for the fire department, told USA TODAY.
'Catastrophic, life-threatening flooding' predicted in Western North Carolina
The NWS previously told the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the outer rain band of Hurricane Helene would likely arrive in Western North Carolina on Thursday and bring six to 10 inches of additional rain and high winds.
Before the powerful storm made landfall, NWS Meteorologist Clay Chaney said residents in the region should not underestimate how severe its conditions could be, including potential "catastrophic, life-threatening flooding."
Photos of the flooding in Western North Carolina
This story was updated to add new information.
Contributing: Iris Seaton/ Asheville Citizen Times
veryGood! (81467)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Alaska’s Hottest Month on Record: Melting Sea Ice, Wildfires and Unexpected Die-Offs
- Lions hopeful C.J. Gardner-Johnson avoided serious knee injury during training camp
- Padma Lakshmi Claps Back to Hater Saying She Has “Fat Arms”
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- This Week in Clean Economy: Green Cards for Clean Energy Job Creators
- This Week in Clean Economy: ARPA-E’s Clean Energy Bets a Hard Sell with Congress, Investors
- Baltimore Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr. opens up on future plans, recovery from ACL injury
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Why Fans Think Malika Haqq Just Revealed Khloe Kardashian’s Baby Boy’s Name
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Sub still missing as Titanic wreckage site becomes focus of frantic search and rescue operation
- Iam Tongi Wins American Idol Season 21
- Coastal Communities Sue 37 Oil, Gas and Coal Companies Over Climate Change
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Global Warming Is Changing the Winds Off Antarctica, Driving Ice Melt
- In Montana, Children File Suit to Protect ‘the Last Best Place’
- ‘China’s Erin Brockovich’ Goes Global to Hold Chinese Companies Accountable
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Tony Bennett had 'a song in his heart,' his friend and author Mitch Albom says
See Below Deck Sailing Yacht's Gary Tell Daisy About His Hookup With Mads in Awkward AF Preview
Daniel Day-Lewis Looks Unrecognizable in First Public Sighting in 4 Years
How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
Judges' dueling decisions put access to a key abortion drug in jeopardy nationwide
80-hour weeks and roaches near your cot? More medical residents unionize
Climate Change Is Shifting Europe’s Flood Patterns, and These Regions Are Feeling the Consequences