Officials in Cocke County have urged all of downtown Newport to evacuate immediately as the Walters Dam in Waterville, North Carolina has “suffered a catastrophic failure” and the Pigeon and French Broad rivers are rising at rapid rates with rainfall after Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night.

“EMERGENCY UPDATE. THE WATERVILLE DAM HAS SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. EVACUATION ALL OF DOWNTOWN NEWPORT IMMEDIATELY,” Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis wrote on Facebook just after 3 p.m.

Moments later Mathis posted the county had been placed under a state of emergency.

The dam sits just across the Tennessee border. It is owned and operated by Duke Energy. A media representative for Duke Energy said just after 4 p.m. ET that the utility was collecting details on a reported dam failure and would be in contact once the situation was clearer.

Several water rescues have taken place. The Newport Community Center at 433 Prospect Ave. is open for people who do not have a safe place to stay.

“All county and city emergency resources are currently fully engaged in water rescue and evacuation operations,” Mathis wrote in a Facebook post earlier in the afternoon. “We are still several hours from the expected high-water mark.

“If water is rising near you, PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE WATER REACHES YOU. Make plans to escape BEFORE you need assistance.”

Rain has forced the closure of Interstate 40 East in Cocke County at exit 432 as high water from the Pigeon River threatens to overflow onto the interstate, said Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Mark Nagi.

Parts of Hartford were underwater this afternoon, according to video posted by Nagi. The town sits along the bank of the Pigeon River.