Tropical Storm Helene continues to cause significant disruption across the Southeastern United States, particularly in North Carolina, where some counties have initiated evacuation orders.
Rutherford County’s Emergency Management has advised residents in specific areas to evacuate to higher ground due to water overflowing from the Lake Lure Dam, as stated in a government Facebook post shared on Friday morning. Emergency officials issued a warning around 11 a.m. ET, indicating that the dam’s failure was “imminent.”
This warning followed reports of “catastrophic flows along the Broad River into Lake Lure,” which were threatening the dam and causing substantial flooding downstream, according to the National Weather Service.
A list of evacuation roads has been published on the Rutherford County Emergency Management Facebook page. The Lake Lure Dam is located approximately 30 miles southeast of Asheville.
In addition, flood warnings have been issued for multiple counties and towns in Western North Carolina, including Avery, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes, and Boone.
Tragically, a 4-year-old lost their life, and several others were injured in a car accident in Catawba County on Thursday, coinciding with the impact of Helene’s outer bands. A separate incident in Charlotte resulted in one fatality and another injury when a tree fell on a house early Friday morning, as confirmed by the Charlotte Fire Department.
Capt. John Lipcsak of the fire department described the death as storm-related.
The National Weather Service had earlier warned that the outer rain bands of Hurricane Helene were expected to reach Western North Carolina on Thursday, bringing with them an additional six to ten inches of rain and high winds. Meteorologist Clay Chaney advised local residents to take the storm’s potential for “catastrophic, life-threatening flooding” seriously.