Torrential rains flood North Carolina mountains and create risk of dam failure

Days of torrential rains in North Carolina culminating with tropical downpours from what was what Hurricane Helene have officials keeping a close eye on a major dam, the two main interstates in the mountains closed and flooding everywhere.

More than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain has fallen across much of the region in the past several days, setting the stage for an unfolding disaster as Helene moved through as a tropical storm Friday morning. At least two deaths had been blamed on the storm.

The powerful, fast-moving hurricane came ashore late Thursday along the Florida Panhandle and was on top of the mountains 12 hours later. Winds gusted to 108 mph (174 kph) atop Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

All roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed because it is too dangerous to travel, the state Department of Transportation said. Interstate 40 was closed near Old Fort west of Asheville, and Interstate 26 was shut down south of Asheville near Hendersonville.

Crews have conducted 100 swiftwater rescues as of Friday morning, Gov. Roy Cooper said. About half of them were around Asheville.

“The priority now is saving lives,” Cooper said, adding no one should be on the roads unless they were seeking higher ground.

Officials in Rutherford County were watching Lake Lure Dam because water overtopped the entire length of the dam.

There is some erosion on one side of the dam caused by the overtopping, state Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Kat Russell said Friday.

Town officials are monitoring the erosion, she said.

The lake, which flows into the Broad River, was created nearly 100 years ago. The dam is listed as 480 feet (146 meters) long and about 120 feet (36.6 meters) high.

The dam is “doing what it’s supposed to do, but the water levels are just too high,” Russell said.

Downstream communities have been made aware of the overtopping but have been told they would have several hours to alert residents to their own evacuations if needed, Russell said. The North Carolina and South Carolina state agencies also have received emergency action plans if conditions worsen.

The lake is famous for being the place where some of the scenes from the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” were filmed.

Roads were washed out preventing first responders from making it to some calls, Buncombe County Assistant Emergency Services Director Ryan Cole said.

That included a mudslide that involved four homes and left an undetermined number of people unaccounted for, Cole said.

“This is the most significant natural disaster that anyone of us has ever seen in western North Carolina,” Cole said.

Downtown Boone saw flooding in areas officials couldn't recall flooding before. Appalachian State University canceled its Saturday football game with Liberty University, blaming the severe impacts of the weather around the region.

Forecasters were comparing it to the benchmark flood of 1916 which killed 80 people, damaged dozens of miles of railroad tracks and isolated Asheville and other mountain cities for days.

Several rivers were above or near record crests and floodwaters were not expected to recede until at least Monday.

In Biltmore Village, just outside the famous Biltmore mansion, swiftly moving water from the overflowing Swannanoa River reached above the hoods of vehicles. It was a scene emergency officials expected in many other places as all the rain that fell has to flow downhill to the sea.

“It’s terrible. I don’t know if I will ever see anything like this again,” said Spencer Tate Andrews who came down to the area to see the flooding. “Glad I got to see it but at the same time its terrible and its going to affect a lot of people and businesses.”

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Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.