North Carolina dam suffers ‘catastrophic failure’ while second dam ‘compromised’ by Storm Helene deluges

Residents downstream of the Waterville Dam and Lake Lure Dam were ordered to immediately evacuate

Residents downstream of two North Carolina dams are being immediately evacuated after one structure suffered “catastrophic failure” and the other was “compromised” due to flooding and deluges from Hurricane Helene.

Officials in Cocke County, Tennessee said on Friday afternoon that the Waterville Dam in nearby North Carolina had failed, declaring a state of emergency and ordering everyone in downtown Newport, Tennessee to get out.

“EMERGENCY UPDATE: THE WATERVILLE DAM HAS SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. EVACUATION ALL OF DOWNTOWN NEWPORT IMMEDIATELY,” said Cocke County mayor Rob Mathis in a Facebook post just before 3pm local time.

Meanwhile, officials in Rutherford County, North Carolina told residents downstream of the Lake Lure Dam to flee to higher ground due to flash floods overtopping the wall.

“Water is cresting the dam and flowing around the side walls. Structural supports have been compromised, but the dam wall is currently holding,” said the county emergency management department at 1:44pm local time.

The Lake Lure Dam in calmer times, near Asheville in North Carolina. Residents were told to evacuate after the dam was ‘compromised’ by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Helene on Friday (Town of Lake Lure)

“Evacuations have occurred from the dam to Island Creek Road. Evacuation sirens are sounding downstream of the dam.”

At least 41 people were reported killed across multiple states on Friday evening after Hurricane Helene crashed into Florida as a Category 4 storm, pounding the west coast with “unsurvivable” conditions before weakening as it moved inland.

Rutherford County officials had initially warned that the Lake Lure Dam’s total failure was about to fail completely, but a spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Quality confirmed to The Independent that it appeared to be sound as of 3pm local time.

“Due to the rainfall, the dam is said to be overtopping across its entire length of the dam. The structure was intact as of the last reports we have,” said spokesperson Josh Kastrinsky.

“There’s been some erosion noted on the left abutment of the structure, and some water is flowing around that abutment.”

In another Facebook post, local wedding and portrait photographer Helen Pace, who lives on the other side of Lake Lure from the dam, posted pictures of her badly damaged house and a road carved apart by floodwaters.

Floodwaters near Bat Cave around Lake Lure, North Carolian (Helen Pace)

“We are physically OK,” she said. “The water has started to recede and I think we dodged the predicted winds...

“We are not able to get out now, we have no power, no water, and cell service seems to be restricted. Sending my love to you all.”

The Rutherford County evacuation orders named a total of 45 streets in two separate Facebook posts. Officials said that storm shelters had been opened at Lake Lure Town Hall and Rutherfordtown Presbytarian Church.

The Lure Dam was built in 1927 on the Broad River, about one hour’s drive east of Asheville and two hours west of Charlotte.

Lake Lure itself is best known nationally as a filming site for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, which used it to stand in for upstate New York’s Catskill Mountains.

Kastrinsky said that the Lake Lure Dam is classified as “high hazard” due to the large number of people and roads downstream of it, but was last assessed to be in “fair” condition, the second highest of four available ratings.

The Waterville Dam is at the confluence of the Pigeon River and Big Creek, and is also known as the Walters Dam. Both dams are located in North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 4:42pm Eastern Time on Friday to add details of the situation at the Waterville Dam.