Lake Lure Dam Overtops, Remains Intact Despite High Water

Strong winds and heavy rain are still destroying the Southeast United States as Hurricane Helene weakens, especially in North Carolina, where at least one county has ordered emergency evacuations.

According to a Facebook post by the government authority on Friday morning, Rutherford County’s Emergency Management advised citizens on particular roads to move to higher regions due to water overtopping the Lake Lure Dam.

The Lake Lure Dam’s water levels are currently dropping, according to a Facebook post by emergency personnel at 6 p.m. ET. More than 25 people had been saved by emergency workers using “swift water rescue.”

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Water was “rising the Dam and rushing around the side walls,” according to the department’s statement hours earlier, emergency management posted on Facebook.

The post stated, “The Lake Lure Dam wall maintained, but structural supports have been weakened.” Island Creek Road to the Dam has been cleared of people. Sirens are warning of an evacuation downstream of the dam. Emergency personnel go home to house with the structural engineers to ensure every citizen has been evacuated. The temporary destination for the evacuated is Ingles in Lake Lure.”

Both bulletins issued in response to reports from the National Weather Service (NWS) and Rutherford County Emergency Management that “catastrophic flows along the Wide River into Lake Lure” were overtopping the dam and causing significant flooding downstream.

Officials issued a list of roads where people instructed to evacuate. The Rutherford County Emergency Management Facebook page has the list available for viewing.

A Facebook post uploaded on Friday afternoon stated that “roads are dangerous with an overwhelming number of trees and electrical lines that are down,” which is another reason emergency management urged people to stay home if they are not in an evacuation zone.

Asheville is around thirty miles southeast of the Lake Lure Dam.

Warnings of Flooding Issued

Avery, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes, and Boone are among the counties and towns in Western North Carolina for which flood advisories have been issued.

As Helene’s outer bands pounded the state on Thursday, an accident in Catawba County claimed the life of a 4-year-old and injured several more.

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Just after 5 a.m. on Friday, a tree fell on a house in Charlotte, causing one person to die and another injured, according to the Charlotte Fire Department.

According to a fire department official, Capt. John Lipcsak, “This was a storm-related death.