The Lake Lure dam overtopped on Friday following heavy rainfall from Hurricane Helene, raising concerns of a potential failure. However, officials later confirmed that failure was not imminent.
A structural engineer assessed the Lake Lure dam on Friday evening and determined that its failure was not imminent, according to a town official.
The Lake Lure dam in western North Carolina overtopped earlier that day after Hurricane Helene brought heavy rainfall to the area, leading to evacuations and early warnings from officials that the dam could fail.
Olivia Stewman, the Lake Lure town manager, stated that despite earlier reports of damage, the structural engineer found the dam to be in "stable condition." Power to the dam, which had been lost early Friday, has since been restored.
Stewman noted that while the immediate threat had lessened, residents who evacuated might not be able to return home yet, as the area remains hazardous with downed trees and other obstacles. Additionally, cell service is still unavailable in the region.
The update on Friday evening was the second instance of positive news. Earlier in the day, concerns had also been raised over the potential failure of Walters Dam, located less than 100 miles from Lake Lure. While that dam did not breach, flooding in downstream areas prompted evacuations in Newport, Tennessee.
Concern over the Lake Lure dam, located about 25 miles east of Asheville, intensified early Friday morning when officials issued an urgent evacuation order.
"RESIDENTS BELOW THE LAKE LURE DAM NEED TO EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!!" the Rutherford County Emergency Management department posted on Facebook around 11 a.m. ET, warning that dam failure was imminent.
By 1:30 p.m., water was overtopping the dam, with the emergency management agency reporting that "structural supports have been compromised but the dam wall is currently holding." Emergency personnel and engineers were conducting house-to-house checks to ensure all residents had evacuated.
The 124-foot-tall hydroelectric dam, which sits on the Broad River, is operated by the town of Lake Lure and has a maximum storage capacity of 44,914 acre-feet—equivalent to around 22,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
By Friday afternoon, Stewman confirmed that water was flowing around one side of the dam. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality reported that the 480-foot-long dam was eroding on one side. Earlier in the day, dam operators had lost power but were able to manually operate the floodgates.
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