Lincoln County 911 uses a WARN broadcast to evacuate residents
Hamlin residents flee as workers attempt to save dam
by Kelly L. Holleran Daily Mail staff
Patricia Bing and her dog, China, left their home in Hamlin late Sunday night. They were camped out this morning in their truck in the parking lot of the emergency shelter in Lincoln.
By early this morning, floodwaters had risen to submerge the walking track, football field and picnic area at Roadside Park in Hamlin. HAMLIN — Rising waters forced Lucille Slone, 69, of Hamlin to pack up a few belongings, leave her home and stay the night on a cot in an elementary school.
She was going without socks because she hadn’t had time to grab any after a fire engine rolled down her street about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, warning people to get out because of the threat of a bursting dam.
Speaking from the shelter at Hamlin Junior High School today, Slone decided the situation was not so bad.
She and a friend talked about quilting while they were in the shelter. She also had a breakfast biscuit provided by Burger King.
“I met some friends here who I met for the first time. They live near me. We’ve had a good time,” she said.
She was among about a thousand Lincoln County residents who had to seek shelter because of concern over Lee’s Fishing Dam, which was threatening to crack with floodwater rising behind it. Only about 25 remained sheltered at the junior high this morning, though. Others had made alternate arrangements.
Residents were given the go-ahead to return to their homes about noon today, said Allen Holder, the county’s emergency services director. Crews continued to pump water from the dam, which is north of Hamlin along the Mud River.
They were using equipment that allowed them to pump about 300,000 gallons an hour out of the lake, and by 10 a.m. water levels already were down about nine inches.
Holder said the dam was inspected by state officials before residents were advised it was safe to return home. When the water pressure is sufficiently reduced, the dam will be breached, he said. That will require heavy equipment and mostly likely will occur on Tuesday.
Close to 1,000 people were asked to evacuate their homes Sunday night because of concerns that the dam might break.
The piping system that normally drains the dam’s overflow became clogged. The earthen dam holds back an estimated 9 million gallons of water.
Holder said he also was concerned about the Coal and Guyandotte rivers. Both rivers were expected to crest 4-5 feet above flood stage.
“We’re seeing the Guyandotte and Coal rivers at levels we haven’t seen in many, many years,” he said.
Holder said there have been no injuries and no fatalities related to the flooding, and only a few rescues were necessary in the last 24 hours, he said.
Evacuees like Slone had little time for planning. After the fire truck came down Slone’s street, she first tried to go to a nearby church but was told that emergency officials were trying to consolidate evacuees at the junior high.
“Water has been up around my house several times, but this is the first time I’ve been evacuated for several years,” Slone said.
Water was everywhere in Lincoln County. At a picnic shelter near Hamlin, water was up to the benches. Water also covered many roads still today.
Cots were scattered around the edge of the gym at Hamlin Junior High. In the basement, there was a separate area for evacuees with pets. Cots in that room were surrounded by cages with animals inside.
Patricia Bing, who lives at Upper Mud River Road, stayed the night at the shelter. She brought her dog, China. She also brought another dog, a rabbit, a cat and a bird.
Before she left her home, she and her kids were able to grab some blankets and pillows. Her mother and father, who also sheltered, weren’t able to take many of her belongings, though.
She said emergency workers came to her house and told her to evacuate. She had been living there for only three or four years, and she hasn’t had any prior flooding problems.
Another evacuee, Khelli Caldwell, 17, of Hamlin had to leave her Anna Avenue home, where she has lived with her parents since September. Khelli, her mother and stepfather all stayed at the shelter overnight and had the good fortune to have enough time to gather some clothes.
When they left home, water had not yet pooled around their house. They found out about the evacuation from family members who called. Then they went outside and talked to a neighbor. The neighbor called 911, and the police told them to evacuate.
She and her family remained scared, not knowing whether the dam would break. But they, too, were deciding whether or not to leave the shelter.
“Right now we’re trying to decide whether or not to go home,” she said.
Staff writer Jessica M. Karmasek contributed to this story.Listen