IVEY, Ga. (AP) — A middle Georgia dam has burst, with a local official saying the failure was caused by recent heavy rains.
Lake Tchukolako dam breached around 6 a.m. Friday. The lake is the center of the 1,000-person town of Ivey, 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Macon, WMAZ-TV reported.
No one was hurt and no homes were damaged, said Wilkinson County Emergency Management Director Emma Bacon. The breach cut off water to the town for a time but did not wash out a nearby Norfolk Southern Railway track, Bacon said.
Bacon said she found in February that the dam needed repairs. Ivey Mayor Brenda Broach says the city, county and Holiday Hills Homeowners Association have been working together in recent months on repairs. She called the breach “bad luck” after a lot of recent rain.
The situation is under control, Broach said, but she’s sad that people lost their lake. City, county and state officials responded to attempt to fix the breach.
An investigation by The Associated Press last year identified 1,688 high-hazard dams rated in poor or unsatisfactory condition in 44 states and Puerto Rico. Georgia led the nation with nearly 200 high-hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition.