GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. ( WHNT ) — The Tennessee Valley Authority announced its plan to deal with the record-breaking amounts of rainfall following Hurricane Helene.
Because of Hurricane Helene, there has been a record-breaking amount of rainfall in East Tennessee. Flooding has been devastating along with the loss of life—over 20 inches at some TVA locations. TVA said it is moving a record amount of water through the system.
SNAP payment benefits increasing on Oct. 1
Nolichucky Dam near Greeneville, Tennessee, moved nearly twice the water flow of the iconic Niagara Falls. According to TVA, the Nolichucky River rose at two feet per hour on Friday, September 27. Around 1.3 million gallons of water poured over the dam each second at 11 p.m. Peak daily water flow of Niagara Falls is around 700,000 gallons per second.
Due to the drought, TVA said there was about 160% flood storage available in the lakes. That flood storage has been filled up with water.
With another storm brewing in the Gulf, TVA said they are aggressively moving water through the system. TVA said it is spilling at 8 of 9 Tennessee River dams (not Wheeler) and water levels will rise this week but the company isn’t expecting any flood stages on the river – including North Alabama.