Thousands of people were evacuated near a dam in Tennessee on Friday, amid fears of a “catastrophic failure” due to the negative effects of Hurricane Helen, but officials later clarified that the structure had not failed.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) issued an emergency alert from Cook County Sheriff Rob Mathis for the Waterville Dam in Newport, Tennessee, a city of about 7,000 people.
“The Waterville Dam has suffered a catastrophic failure. ‘Evacuate all of downtown Newport immediately,'” the alert read.
About an hour later, TEMA said the dam’s operator, Duke Energy, informed it that “the dam did not collapse.”
“Evacuations are still ongoing in the area. Please follow local official guidance if you live in the area,” the agency said.
Earlier today, the US National Weather Service also issued an evacuation alert for people living near another dam, this one in North Carolina.
The warning, issued Friday morning, warned of flash flooding at Lake Lure Dam in North Carolina, and urged residents to evacuate to higher ground immediately due to an “imminent” collapse of the dam. Officials later said there were no immediate concerns it might fail.
‘The situation is particularly serious’
Helen brought life-threatening flooding to multiple states on Friday after causing widespread devastation as a major hurricane moved through Florida and Georgia overnight. It killed at least 40 people in four states, flooded neighborhoods and left more than 4 million homes and businesses without power.
Helen hit Florida’s Big Bend area as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Thursday at 11:10 p.m. EDT (0310 GMT Friday) and left a chaotic scene of capsized boats in docks, downed trees, submerged cars and flooded streets.
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Police and firefighters carried out thousands of water rescues across the affected states, including Atlanta, where an apartment complex was evacuated due to flooding.
Helen came ashore in Florida with winds of 225 kilometers per hour, then weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved into Georgia early Friday. It was carrying maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (97 km/h) as of 11 a.m. and was expected to stall over the Tennessee Valley over the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center said life-threatening storm surge, winds and heavy rain continued. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for several counties in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday morning.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation. Find higher ground now!” the service said.
– With files from Reuters
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