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Flash flood emergency: Mandatory evacuations ordered for Mountain Island Lake
Residents on Riverside Drive, Lake Drive and Riverhaven Drive are under mandatory evacuation orders due to heavy rain and flooding from Helene.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for residents on Mountain Island Lake due to a flash flood emergency caused by potentially historic flooding from Helene.
The Charlotte Fire Department announced mandatory evacuations for the areas of Riverside Drive, Lake Drive, Riverhaven Drive and parts of Beaglue Club Road and Hart Road near Mountain Island Lake. Floodwaters are rising as heavy rain moves into the Charlotte region.
A shelter is open at 4820 Tuckaseegee Road in Charlotte. Meteorologist Chris Mulcahy said an isolated flash flood emergency like this is very rare.
“It’s getting worse and worse and they’re expecting a record crest of 110 feet,” Mulcahy said.
For perspective, Mountain Island Lake is normally 96 feet in elevation with a maximum of 100 feet. The Catawba River has already reached 103.15 feet at the Mountain Island Dam, which is the sixth-highest level.
WCNC Charlotte’s Richard DeVayne saw a water rescue along Riverside Drive, just off Mount Holly-Huntersville Road, early Friday. That area is prone to flooding during heavy rain. This happened after several residents moved their vehicles to higher ground before the storm arrived.
A National Guard truck coming down the road got stuck in a culvert around 4:30 a.m. Charlotte Fire’s water rescue team had to free the people who were trapped inside the truck.
Bobby Graham, a division chief with the Charlotte Fire Department, said the agency had concerns for residents in western Mecklenburg County ahead of the storm. Graham said the concern was even greater for people near Mountain Island Lake and the Catawba River.
“Residents particularly around Mountain Island Lake,” he said, “and along Lake Norman, (Lake) Wylie and the Catawba River should prepare now, because we are going to have to issue volunteer evacuation orders.”
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