KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Historic flooding pushed Tennessee's dams to their limits but they performed as expected, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Friday night into Saturday morning, the TVA activated a condition red warning about an "imminent breach" at the Nolichucky Dam. Leaders said Hurricane Helene brought extreme rainfall which broke record river levels across the region. But, the utility later said the water crested Saturday morning and the dam remained intact.
It said the last time the area saw rainfall like this was in the late 1970s when Watauga Dam was pushed to its limits.
On Monday, the TVA said Douglas Dam was releasing water at a record rate. By releasing more water, it said it could make more room to store water in case the area saw any rainfall and the TVA would need to act to prevent additional flooding.
"Douglas is catching a lot of the rain that Ashville saw. Throughout the system though, the dams performed just exactly like they were supposed to. We stored the water in them, we stored the maximum amount that we could at Watauga and Douglas. Those are the reservoirs that received the heaviest rainfall from the North Carolina side of things, and so those are the reservoirs that really kinda filled up to capacity," said Darrell Guinn, from the TVA River Forecast Center.
It said on social media due to more water being released, the Fort Loudon Dam Lock and the Tennessee River Gorge would be closed because of high river flows. It also said people can stay updated on lake levels online.