Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Commuters through Bryson City this morning were sure to notice the Tuckasegee River water level was high. The National Weather Service issued a river flood warning Friday-Saturday afternoon and a river flood advisory through Saturday morning.
At 8:45 a.m., the water level was above flood stage of 10 feet at 10.5 feet, according to the US Geological Survey. Water levels are forecast to continue to rise to crest at 11 feet this afternoon and then begin to recede below flood stage by midnight (weather.gov/safety/flood).
“Bear Hunters is in the process of moving their units to higher ground,” said David Breedlove Swain County Emergency Management director around 9:15 this morning. “I think we’re fairly close to peak.”
Given the rising water level, “River Road is closed and Country Girl RV park is monitoring its floodway to see if they will need to move some of theirs,” Breedlove added.
Overnight, the high water alarm went off at Ela Dam, and the county sent officers out to the riverside campgrounds to start warning people of the potential flooding.
In addition to the river flood warning, Swain County is under a flood advisory for low lying areas through 3:30 p.m. this afternoon and a flood watch through 1 p.m. today due to excessive rainfall.
Swain County experienced rain from Wednesday night through Friday morning with a light rain and little to no accumulation anticipated through Friday morning clearing to cloudy skies. Total accumulation of rainfall was 2.98 inches through 9 a.m. Friday morning, according to the national weather service. Temperatures Friday morning were int eh low 50s with temperatures forecast to drop throughout the day to freezing temperatures by midnight (weather.com).