Update: Tennessee's Walters Dam no longer in danger of failure
An urgent dam break warning along Tennessee's Pigeon River is being canceled amid conflicting reports of the dam's status.
Flood waters cover Newport, Tennessee as the Walters Dam fails (Scott Moore, Live Storms Media / FOX Weather)
NEWPORT, Tenn. – An urgent dam break warning along Tennessee's Pigeon River is being canceled amid conflicting reports of the dam's status.
Tennessee Emergency managers were telling everyone in the downtown area of Newport to leave immediately due to the failure of the Walters Dam along the Pigeon River, and the National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency, sourcing the dam's operator reporting a failure of the dam.
However, the NWS later canceled the dam break warning after hearing from officials at Duke Energy, who were able to visually inspect the dam and confirm it had not failed.
Flooding is still occurring along the Pigeon River, which is at record high levels and remains on Flood Warning. Some evacuations have happened due to the high water.
Video from a storm spotter showed floodwaters covering parts of downtown Newport along the river.
The region has received between 5 and 7 inches of rain so far, with more rain falling, according to NOAA.