Following heavy rainfall brought by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, Duke Energy has opened the floodgates on the Cowans Ford Dam in North Carolina. This action aims to alleviate pressure on lakes in the region and mitigate potential flooding concerns.
Duke Energy opened floodgates on the Cowans Ford Dam in North Carolina Friday. They’re trying to ease pressure on lakes in the area following heavy rain from what had been Hurricane Helene.Jonah Wark, right, kisses his wife Sara Martin outside their flood damaged home on the Pigeon River, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newport, Tenn. A man walks near a flooded area near the Swannanoa river, effects from Hurricane Helene , Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Asheville, N.C.
More than 700,000 power customers were without power across North Carolina, including 160,000 in Buncombe County. Interstate 40 and I-26 were impassible in multiple locations, and a state transportation department map showed that most routes into Asheville and across much of the mountains were snarled.
Jones said the area experienced a cascade of emergencies that included heavy rain, high winds and mudslides. Officials said they tried to prepare for the storm but its magnitude was beyond what they could have imagined. “My sister checked in with me yesterday morning to find out how I was in Atlanta,” she said on Saturday. “The storm was just hitting her in Asheville, and she said it sounded really scary outside.”
Meanwhile, TVA on Saturday said it was actively monitoring levels at the utility’s Watauga Dam in Carter County, Tennessee, where the pool rose to about 3 feet over previous records. Employees were working to get water out of the reservoir by releasing from Watauga and Wilbur dams.Kendale Ball, who had opened his Simple Cafe in June after relocating from Knoxville, said water reached nearly thigh-high.
“We would move things and go, ‘Oh, we’re 30 feet above the waterline,’ go help somebody else move their thing to that level, and go, ‘Oh. We’ve got to move. Again.’ And it was just really, really rapid,” said Fisher, who along with her husband teaches whitewater standup paddleboarding on the Nolichucky River. In the middle of the final move, officials closed the road.
Hurricanehelene Flooding Northcarolina Dukeenergy Damrelease
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