“The EAS alert for a dam failure in White County is in error.” That was the notice sent out by White County Public Safety Director David Murphy at 7:12 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11.
“Habersham County was attempting to send out an alert and it hit the EAS system in error,” Murphy says. He emphasized, “There is no immediate threat of a dam failure.”
Habersham County officials assisted White County in notifying and evacuating between 100-120 individuals from the Riverside RV Park east of Cleveland. The evacuations were a “precautionary measure” because the campground sits below what Murphy describes as a “compromised” dam.
The private lake dam sits off of Dean Mountain Road. Water was spilling over the dam after the remnants of Hurricane Delta dumped torrential rain on the region Saturday into Sunday.
If the dam were to fail, Murphy says the water would go through the valley area to the river. Some homes were evacuated as a precaution.
