Historic Release Of Water From Douglas Dam

The TVA continues to discharge water through Douglas Dam at an incredible rate. Right now all the gates are open at the dam. As of 11pm Wedneday night, they were discharging water at a rate of 40,217 cubic feet per second. That is down though from a record of nearly 60,000 cubic feet per second earlier this week. A representative from the TVA says he has never seen water being discharged at this rate from Douglas Dam. All three rivers that feed into Douglas Lake had record or near record levels on Friday or Saturday. Of the French Broad, Nolichuckey and Pigeon rivers, the French Broad is the only one to not set a record, but it came within about 6 inches of doing so.

Because of the record release of water from Douglas Lake, areas downstream from the dam in Sevier County are experiencing flooding.