Sylva resident Charles Allen looks on as a rising Scotts Creek pounds the Harold Street bridge Tuesday afternoon. With water standing in the road, Sylva Police Chief Jeff Jamison closed the thoroughfare to vehicular traffic at about 2:30 p.m. Also in response to rising water levels, Duke Power Co. officials opened the spillway gates at Thorpe Dam at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday to control the release of water into the Tuckaseigee River. Emergency management volunteers were on standby most of the day, answering calls for assistance. Several activities scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled or postponed, and Jackson County school children were sent home at 12:30 p.m. - Herald photo by Lisa Majors-Duff
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Heavy rain this week caused some flooding and other weather-related problems in Jackson County.
County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Ensley said Wednesday morning that the most serious problems were mud slides that damaged houses on Dark Ridge and on Tanglewood Road in Barkers Creek community. A mud slide on Rosemount Road in Balsam left five people stranded for a time Tuesday afternoon, according to Sheriff Jimmy Ashe. Much of the debris, including uprooted trees, was cleaned up during the evening hours, he said. Due to the heavy rains, Duke Power Co. officials opened the flood gates at the Glenville Dam Tuesday morning, causing the water level to rise on the Tuckaseigee River. By late afternoon, the river left its banks, and Old Settlement Road and South River Road were closed near Webster. Harold Street in Sylva was closed Tuesday afternoon when Scotts Creek came out of its banks sending water over the road. Jackson County schools dismissed at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I felt it would be safer to get the kids home instead of them being trapped at school," Ensley said. Cherokee Tribal employees were instructed to leave work after flooding on the reservation caused concern there. Edwin Austin, maintenance supervisor for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said his crews had worked in several parts of the county due to slides and pipes being stopped up. Problem areas included Buff Creek, Piney Mountain and Caney Fork.
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Up to 8 inches of rain fell Monday and Tuesday, May 5 and 6, forcing the Oconoluftee River in Cherokee out of its banks. At the Island Park water flowed over the tops of picnic tables. Several campsites on the reservation were flooded, forcing campers to evacuate. More than 20 rock and mud slides closed portions of U.S. 19 across Soco Gap for several hours, while National Park Service officials closed a section of U.S. 441 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Low-lying areas in both Smokemont and Deep Creek campgrounds were also closed.
