DEBRIS ON LAKE RHODHISS: Officials warn of high water, dangerous conditions on foothill lakes

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Wildlife officials are warning boaters in the foothills to be careful after the recent intense rainfall caused dangerous conditions on the water.

Hundreds of trees have been swept down river into Lake Rhodhiss after the flooding in Avery, McDowell and Western Burke counties.

Over at the Lake Rhodhiss dam where a tremendous amount of water is flowing into Lake Hickory. I can clearly see trees and other debris washed downstream from the flooding. Boaters beware! pic.twitter.com/pBnEvYKpuN
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) June 1, 2018

There were reports of more than a foot of rainfall around Grandfather Mountain during the last month.

Wildlife officers said the big concern is debris hidden in the high water on local lakes.

“With this much debris in the water, often times there can be large sunken logs and other things that aren’t usually an issue, that can be in the main channels,” Eric Gleason with North Carolina Wildlife Enforcement said. “Just make sure that you’ve got somebody to keep a very sharp eye out for that debris.”

Gleason urged people to have their life jackets in case they do run into problems on the water.

Cox Media Group