Lake Lure Dam overtops, remains in tact

As Helene weakens, the now-tropical storm’s sturdy winds and heavy rain proceed to wreak havoc throughout the Southeast U.S., together with in North Carolina the place no less than one county has ordered evacuations.

Rutherford County’s Emergency Administration ordered residents who dwell on sure roads to evacuate to increased areas because of water overtopping the Lake Lure Dam, based on a Fb put up shared by the federal government workplace Friday morning.

Emergency officers warned in an 11 a.m. ET Fb put up that failure of Lake Lure Dam was “imminent.” As of 1:30 p.m., “water is cresting the Dam and flowing across the facet partitions,” emergency administration stated in a subsequent Fb put up.

“Structural helps have been compromised however the Dam wall is at present holding,” based on the put up. “Evacuations have occurred from the Dam to Island Creek Highway. Evacuation sirens are sounding downstream of the Dam. Emergency personnel are working with the structural engineers and are going home to accommodate to make sure all residents have been evacuated. Evacuees are being transported briefly to Ingles in Lake Lure.”

Each updates got here after the Rutherford County Emergency Administration reported “catastrophic flows alongside the Broad River into Lake Lure” had been overtopping the dam, leading to main flooding downstream, per the Nationwide Climate Service (NWS).

Officers launched a listing of roads on which residents are ordered to evacuate. You may view the record on the Rutherford County Emergency Administration Fb web page.

Emergency administration additionally requested residents to stay house if they don’t seem to be in an evacuation zone as “roads are hazardous with an insurmountable variety of timber and electrical traces which can be down,” based on a Fb put up shared Friday afternoon.

The dam is roughly 30 miles southeast of Asheville.

Flood warnings issued

Flood warnings have been issued for a number of counties and cities in Western North Carolina, together with Avery, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes and Boone.

A 4-year-old was killed and others had been injured in a wreck in Catawba County on Thursday that occurred as Helene’s outer bands had been slamming the state. In Charlotte, an individual died and one other was hospitalized after a tree fell on a house simply after 5 a.m. Friday, based on the Charlotte Fireplace Division.

“This was a storm-related demise,” Capt. John Lipcsak, a spokesperson for the hearth division, instructed USA TODAY.

‘Catastrophic, life-threatening flooding’ predicted in Western North Carolina

The NWS beforehand instructed the Asheville Citizen Instances, a part of the USA TODAY Community, that the outer rain band of Hurricane Helene would probably arrive in Western North Carolina on Thursday and produce six to 10 inches of further rain and excessive winds.

Earlier than the highly effective storm made landfall, NWS Meteorologist Clay Chaney stated residents within the area mustn’t underestimate how extreme its situations may very well be, together with potential “catastrophic, life-threatening flooding.”