LAKE LURE, N.C. – On Friday, authorities urged residents living below the dam at a popular lake in the western North Carolina mountains to evacuate, following warnings that the structure could be on the verge of failure.
However, it appears that the dam is likely to withstand the ongoing storm.
The intense rainfall from what was formerly Hurricane Helene has caused severe flooding from Florida to North Carolina as the storm progresses inland across the Southeast.
Rutherford County Emergency Management officials posted a serious alert on Facebook, calling for immediate evacuation of those near Lake Lure.
“Residents below the Lake Lure Dam need to evacuate to higher ground immediately!!” the post stated. “Dam failure imminent!! Evacuate to higher ground immediately!!”
By Friday afternoon, officials reported that while the dam’s structure was currently intact, floodwaters from the Broad River were overtopping it, and some support elements had been compromised.
Fortunately, by late Friday evening, emergency officials announced that engineers had assessed the situation and determined that the dam was no longer at risk of failure.
All of western North Carolina faced a high flooding risk on Friday, with rainfall in the southern Appalachian region reaching between 15 and 25 inches as Hurricane Helene passed through.