Emergency officials in the United States, US have said the Lake Lure Dam is most likely to fail due to high inflow and result in a catastrophic flood in parts of North Carolina.
Following the announcement, which was made via a Facebook post, Rutherford County’s Emergency Management has urged residents to evacuate the nearby areas and move to higher grounds as soon as possible.
According to the government body, the evacuation would help residents stay clear of expected impact when the dam eventually fails as significant flooding is equally expected in close by areas.
“RESIDENTS BELOW THE LAKE LURE DAM NEED TO EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!!
The National Weather Service (NWS) had earlier reported catastrophic flows along the Broad River into Lake Lure dam, located roughly 30 miles southeast of Asheville, stating that the high volume of water reception was overtopping the dam.
It also stated that the catastrophic flows were resulting in major flooding downstream and published a list of roads on which residents are ordered to evacuate.
The affected roads include Kennebec way, Rock Ledge Dr., Bills Mountain Trail, Mcowenby Pass and Quarters Lane amongst others which totalled 17, according to a Facebook post by the agency.
Meanwhile, the floods currently wrecking several counties in North Carolina have been attributed to Helene’s heavy rain which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm on Thursday, reportedly leading to the death of at least 22 people with more than 4.5 million people in six states, including Tennessee and Virginia, reportedly losing power.