Flooding from the Walters Dam, also known as the Waterville Dam, is posing a serious threat to the town of Newport, Tennessee. Meanwhile, less than 100 miles away, the Lake Lure Dam is being overtopped by rising waters.
Two major dams in North Carolina were either at risk or already in the process of failing on Friday, prompting urgent evacuations after Hurricane Helene brought severe flooding to the area.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency issued a warning on behalf of Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis, stating that the Waterville Dam, also referred to as the Walters Dam, had experienced a “catastrophic failure.” Later that day, Mathis declared a state of emergency for the county, as shared in an official Facebook post.
The agency ordered the evacuation of Newport, Tennessee, a downstream community of around 7,000 residents located just across the state border.
A spokeswoman for Duke Energy, which owns and operates the 208-foot hydroelectric Walters Dam, could not immediately confirm that the dam had failed. Kristin Coulter, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s communications director, said she could not confirm the dam had failed, either.
Mathis could not immediately be reached.
“At this time we are working with our local partners and Duke Energy, which owns the dam, to determine what is going on with it,” Coulter said. “Regardless, the city of Newport is asking downtown residents to evacuate.”
United States Geological Survey stream data showed that the Pigeon River downstream of the dam was experiencing major flooding.
Meanwhile, the Lake Lure dam, located in western North Carolina less than 100 miles from the Walters Dam, is at imminent risk of failure and could flood downstream communities if that happens. Officials in South Carolina have been warned that a failure could even impact towns there, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
“RESIDENTS BELOW THE LAKE LURE DAM NEED TO EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!!” the Rutherford County Emergency Management department wrote in a Facebook post at about 11 a.m. ET on Friday. “DAM FAILURE IMMINIENT!!”
As of 1:30 p.m., water was overtopping the dam, the emergency management agency said.
“Structural supports have been compromised but the Dam wall is currently holding,” the agency wrote on Facebook. “Emergency personnel are working with the structural engineers and are going house to house to ensure all citizens have been evacuated.”
The 124-foot tall hydroelectric dam, which is on the Broad River about 25 miles from Asheville, is operated by the town of Lake Lure, according to the National Inventory of Dams. Its maximum storage is 44,914 acre-feet, roughly equivalent to the volume of water in 22,500 Olympic swimming pools.
Olivia Stewman, the town manager of Lake Lure, reported that water was spilling around one side of the dam. The situation has been further complicated by blocked roads and fallen trees across the region, hindering emergency response efforts.
“Our dam engineer is en route. Once he arrives, he’ll conduct a site assessment to evaluate the dam’s condition,” Stewman stated. “At this moment, our first responders and public safety teams are doing everything they can to manage the situation.”