Flooding around Charlotte was already bad when Tropical Storm Helene passed through. It will increase as Duke Energy moves water from Lake Norman through Mountain Island Lake to Lake Wylie.
Duke Energy “must move large volumes of stormwater through the Catawba River System,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management said Friday afternoon.
According to the province, Mountain Island Lake will experience rising water levels and flooding late Friday afternoon and evening. South Carolina’s Lake Wylie and the Catawba River will be next to be affected.
The province said “all residents near the shoreline along the lakes and rivers” should exercise caution. A shelter for displaced residents was set up at the Tuckaseegee Rec Center at 4820 Tuckaseegee Road. It will remain a shelter until Sunday evening.
Some parts of the Catawba River were expected to rise higher than ever before thanks to Helene, The Herald reported.
Duke Energy manages Lake Norman and Lake Wylie along the river for energy production. In a public warning Thursday, the company said Lake James, which is northwest of Lake Norman, could rise 10 feet above full pond level by Friday afternoon. On Friday morning it was one and a half meters above normal levels.
The National Weather Service warned that Helene “will be one of the most significant weather events to occur in the western portions of the area in modern times,” and predicted flooding similar to the 1916 Asheville floods, which killed 80 people and houses floated. downstream.
The tree that killed one when Helene hit Charlotte should have already been cut down, neighbor says
