FAIRFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — Saturday night, News19 learned from Duke Energy that Lake Wateree is spilling over. The company that regulates and manages this lake said based on current conditions, they expect the lake to crest by Sunday afternoon, and then slowly decline in its water level over the next several days.
"We expect that Lake Wateree should crest, which means we believe it will reach its highest point, at or below 108 feet ... We're moving water through our system and we're trying to do that strategically by moving water through our hydro-units, moving water over, through our spillways, through our floodgates, again, trying to mitigate the flooding impacts," said Ben Williamson, principal communications manager for Duke Energy.
News19 received pictures from Manley Gaddy, a resident in Winnsboro, who said he saw the lake spilling over while driving along Deer Run Road and Molly Creek Circle Saturday.
Duke Energy said it is very important that residents living on Lake Wateree are monitoring weather conditions and instructions from emergency officials.
"As soon as we began to anticipate Hurricane Helene’s arrival and its significant rainfall, Duke Energy’s hydro operations team began moving water, and continues to do so – managing our river basins as an entire system ... there are 11 lakes on the Catawba-Wateree ... Despite our best efforts, when significant rainfall occurs, as we have seen with Hurricane Helene, the lakes may not be able to store excess water from the rain and increased inflows from upstream. When this occurs, the excess water must flow downstream," Williamson said.
Duke Energy said several of their lakes on the upper part of the Catawba River have already crested and are expected to slowly decline in water levels in the coming days. However, they said other lakes may continue to rise, resulting in flooding.
Williamson said people living near Lake Wateree should watch for emergency notification messages on their mobile phones. He adds that orders for flood evacuations, road closures and electrical disconnects are initiated and led by local emergency management officials. Duke Energy informs them of changing water levels.
You can find updates on lake levels and current alerts here: Duke Energy - Lake Levels Data (duke-energy.com)