Homeowners accuse Duke Energy of protecting Lake Norman properties during Helene's flooding

Flooded homeowners who live above and below Lake Norman are convinced Duke Energy's decisions before and during Hurricane Helene protected that lake at the expense of those upstream and downstream.
"Duke Energy fell asleep at the wheel," Betsy Patton said. "Actually, they didn't fall asleep. They were wide awake. They didn't do what they should have done."
Patton lives along the Catawba River in Charlotte, below Mountain Island Lake, where floodwaters rushed over the spillway and washed away the four houses that once stood next door.
READ MORE: www.wcnc.com/a...

[@nv1493]

Building in a known flood plain, always looking for somebody else to blame. This is nonsense.

[@ppevader-u2t]

Such a stupid comment

[@dosed2023]

Yea, the fortune 150 company should have better business morals.

[@ghettohey2388]

Not to place blame on anybody and not to say that duke energy didnt do as much as they coyld have but when you have a home in a flood plain your just asking for heart break. Some people may live all there life in a flood plain and never experience flooding but it only takes one time to ruin your home. Its heart breaking for everyone

[@silentweaponsquietwars1703]

When the Powers that be claim " Owning the Weather 2025" by Geoengineering Weather, Weather Warfare, Tesla Weather Weapons being used, Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars pdf.

[@bigsasquatch1991]

Imagine living right next to a river and then getting upset because it floods. The mental gymnastics here is astonishing.

[@nobody-fs8jj]

True.

[@MrScubajsb]

Very true

[@Brenda0312F]

Thousands were not within the flood plain though… 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@toddsing]

@wcnc This reporting feels lacking and irresponsible. Lake Wylie also got a level of protection - you should have stated why. Lake Norman and Lake Wylie have nuclear power plants on them, there is a much larger safety issue Duke Energy has to address. The reason they built these dams and lakes is to produce energy. I am sure Duke Energy does not want to damage or destroy anyone's home.

[@tomt9543]

Idiot

[@Crismodin]

I fact checked you, this is relatively accurate, a rare sight to see lately.

[@sienna5083]

I completely agree with you and the news channel should have looked into it more than just the water, there are power plants that have to be protected. I also believe Duke Energy released the water accordingly to prevent another catastrophe, the dams breaking.

[@CountryAndProud]

If they do have nukes drawing cooling water from those lakes then yeah.. sorry folks but your house isnt as Important keeping nuclear reactors cooled.

[@billmyer2990]

BLACKROCK VANGUARD ARE THE MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS OF ALL ENERGY COS.THEY MAKE ALL DECISIONS

[@nobody-fs8jj]

I'd like to know how they expected this to have been prevented?

[@potblack6043]

What a strange title. Is it also possible that by consequence of lake Norman being a much larger lake, the amount of incoming water had a smaller impact on the lake level than the other two vastly smaller lakes? if the whole region was getting the same rainfall, then the smaller lakes would be overwhelmed first.

[@soulsurvivor4499]

even though they get paid millions of dollars, to configure that in ahead of time, this is the obvious perspective on why it could have been preventable. ... engineers are paid an insane amount of money in most cases especially when they're with a company that big that charges people outrageous amounts for electric.

[@hpensive]

​@@soulsurvivor4499 Our lake systems were devised years before anybody cared about public safety in conjunction with insurance and law suit payouts. Gonna be hard to build back on that flood plain with modern building codes. Imagine your house was in the mountains...the quaint architecture of the past won't be a thing there anymore.

[@soulsurvivor4499]

@@hpensive I think that Federal bolstering of our Constitution and Bill of Rights and all that good stuff should supersede any code if one were to apply themselves in the correct administrative form. Have you ever researched USC Title 18 section 241 and 242? We have to fight for our rights and continue to fight for our independence in an administrative manner to secure things to avoid conflict. Many people have been stockpiling non-necessities instead of books all these years.

[@mezenman]

If they did nothing wrong why won’t they release the information to back this claim?

[@dosed2023]

​@@soulsurvivor4499"Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty" It's almost like Jefferson saw this coming...

[@MagpieOnTheMoon]

News channels need to stop interviewing people who don't know how things work.

[@IronskullGM]

You mean the regular average citizen? Wow.. You just promoted State propaganda you realize don't you? North Korea and China would be proud.

[@kelleemerson9510]

Speed at getting a vid up to pay the bills is way more important. They're dying if KZbin doesn't keep them going. Quality is long gone.

[@angiepangie989]

Literally!! I'm so sick of stupid people, I'm in Florida and people are literally blaming the government for the hurricane, but not their politicians only the ones on the other side. The dunning-kruger affect is terrible 😅. Smart people doubt themselves but dumb people think they're brilliant 😩

[@GloucesterODaugherty]

@@angiepangie989Florida is where woke goes to die, according to your governor. Too bad he’s illiterate and can’t eat with a fork.

[@Crismodin]

I live in a state that is prone to flash flooding (Arizona) so if my house ever floods due to flash flooding, I don't immediately turnaround and place blame on other people for knowingly living in a place that can potentially flood. These people in this hurricane received a reality check that a lot of them failed.

[@Tina-mt9cl]

They don't understand. 1 inch in Lake Norman is 2ft in Mtn Island Lake. Lake Norman literally can't flood. It was higher than it ever had been before, but it can't "flood"...

[@bmwlane8834]

Hush! You're making sense!

[@riccochet704]

It's a river that's dammed, it can flood.

[@Tina-mt9cl]

@@riccochet704 Both above and beneath can. But no, Lake Norman cannot flood except for a small area directly underneath the upriver dam. (Lake Norman has 520 miles of shoreline)

[@Singlesix6]

@@Tina-mt9cl "...except..."

[@johnlennon6790]

​@@Singlesix6" a small area directly underneath the up River Dam" - there I fixed that for you. It's not anyone's fault if you don't know how gravity and land levels work. I too live on a reservoir that is the result of a dammed River, and being 30 ft higher than the top of the damn means I'll never flood. See how that works?

[@stellarwind1946]

You’re always going to be at a heightened risk of flooding if you’re in close proximity to a body of water.

[@LucidCurios]

No good deed goes unpunished. Just let the dams and spillways break next time. 🙄

[@mikeberger9594]

Gotta blame someone , evidently Duke Energy has the most money.

[@consciouscollective33]

It is sad people are seeing the negative impacts of damming these waterways.

[@countbenjamin1442]

We all know darn well. The energy company will do what's best for their shareholders and that's keeping the Richer people happy. I don't think that Duke energy should be in control of the damn in any way. It should be done by the federal government. Because Duke energy is a private business, it only cares about money and if they say they care about people what mass? If company cares that much about people they care about PR and money

[@dosed2023]

I wish more people would wake up and realize this. Private companies give no shits about you, only if their numbers go up.

[@williamfowler616]

build in a flood zone and then complain about the flood? wow

[@MikeH-sg2ue]

Sad times indeed! Work carefully, be kind, & help others safely! The sad truth is, that big corporations get away with murder, on a regular basis!

[@odesangel]

Hindsight is 20/20. How dare the big evil corporation fail to predict an unprecedented, catastrophic natural disaster that no one else predicted either?

[@bassfishinglakenorman5662]

You can go online and see all lake levels in the chain of lakes. I did this a couple days ago and every lake was equally about 3' above full pond. If you build on land that is flat and close to the water, you are going to flood. If Duke power tries to help Mt Island by releasing more water, then lake Wylie floods. Everyone gets treated equally.

[@KE-vm1tp]

I grew up around Clark's Hill dam on the ga/carolina line west of Augusta...And army Corp of engineers would tell the residents that build houses around the reservoir..We didn't build this for your comfort and recreation..

[@joycee5493]

Dams are built for different reasons, but the problem is it allows people to live in areas that they shouldn’t. When flood waters get too high dams become more of a problem. If they allow the natural floodplains to work as they should and not build homes in those areas, these things would not happen. Dams can fail and they can build up a lot of silt behind them, which raises the level of the river behind them and then the water has nowhere to go but out to the floodplain..

[@okieg8960]

Whoever zoned these areas failed this community they never had a hind-site of extreme flooding.

[@CharlieB.-]

Praying for everyone affected 💔🌀

[@michaelpage1796]

With the amount of rain and the widespread area,Duke did all they Could do. On Lake Keowee(another DukeEnergy lake) they opened two flood gates 12’ and had both turbines in the power house running to protect the dam from being over ran. More than likely they were doing what they did to protect the dam from failing. Can you imagine how much more the damage would have been if they did nothing and the dam was over ran and eventually washed out!

[@vincentb2175]

It makes sense to protect $1 billion dollars of property, the most people, the main dam infrastructure vs the properties worth a few million in value. Sorry but I think they made the right decision ☹

[@shutinalley]

You got a taste of what our companies do all over the world.

[@dw6506]

Things are getting better and people are pointing fingers

[@justwrong-y6d]

At 2:15 They said it all They control Mr. Raegan's words come true all 9 of them.

[@MengGuoZhou]

And they are ordered NO TO talk about who and why they open the levy!! Fully open in 40s, a water wall that cleaned the canyon!!

[@YouTubeAccount-hq6oz]

Sounds to me like Duke Energy did the thing they're licensed to do...keep the lake at a nominal working level.

[@amys5669]

How could Duke Energy Have done a full assessment that quickly? Pretty sure they weren't working/assessing their actions days immediately after the flood.

[@barnabyjones5161]

There is a LOT of money on Lake Norman in case anyone was wondering.

[@Bethanyview]

Heck ya.

[@bradembler4060]

Does that surprise anybody

[@Mulberrysmile]

The graph is pretty clear. The people aren’t imagining what happened. This is what happens when you let companies take control of essential infrastructure. Power, waste, water, and things required by government, should be under the authority of government. Tree trimming near power lines in FL went to the pits when the power companies were allowed to decide when, where, and how it got done. If your neighbors tree branch is blowing into a line and catching fire, they won’t cut it until it is a small distance away while at rest. A foot, if I recall. And if you want to get it cut sooner, there is a monopoly on tree cutting companies with training to do it near a power line. It will cost you bunches. Plus…you can’t cut a neighbors tree if it will kill the tree. It’s a mess, unless you happen to be a power company or a tree service that starts with an A…for them, it’s good times on the way to the bank!

[@conniewolf7300]

The same thing happened in TX during the floods last spring! The rich people's homes were protected!

[@claytonhamilton4889]

How are they going to know what is going to happen when the water gets to high and it has to go somewhere so it is your fault for not getting out of there when you were seeing the water like it was doing

[@dreadfuldonkey]

What do you do leave? Let somebody else clean it up. Maybe the bank should take care of it. Their property.

[@patmcbride9853]

I want to hear about the choppers with registration numbers hidden that flew way too low over private donation operations and blew the food everywhere.

[@Plutogalaxy]

It was a private helicopter operated by KZbinr’s filming everyone for clicks and views.

[@JohnBrown-ff6ez]

*LET THIS STUPID STORY GO!. THEY WANT PUBLICITY!. **#PERIOD*

[@bmwlane8834]

You do know those helicopters are coming for us right? But They have to see more clouds and make more storms and then black rock comes in and takes our trailers away. That's what there're doing....I read it on my conspiracy media page!!!

[@joshportie]

​@@Plutogalaxyshow the link

[@patmcbride9853]

@@Plutogalaxy Not the Chinook.

[@ohyeahthatsright3155]

Will they move away from the water now?

[@Jules-o7u3v]

I wonder if any of the bigwigs from Duke electric have homes on the lake Norman.

[@jasonstacy5587]

Ask people in Harlan County, KY how much Duke Power cares about working class people.

[@CharlayneCrawford]

Kings Mountain is close and has lithium mining contracts.

[@byronkacheris5781]

Kinda like Maui. The few control the many

[@kramnull8962]

Lake Lookout Dam has been cracked up since 1930.

[@Brenda0312F]

How is lookout shoals lake affected by any prevention from flooding lake Norman could have done? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@originaloldpop8405]

How many Duke employees live on Lake Norman ?

[@Getnsickofit]

Not many at all.

[@originaloldpop8405]

@@Getnsickofit when I was at a mcguire a lot of the nukes did, must of got a good offer and sold

[@JohnBrown-ff6ez]

*THAT PART!*

[@JohnBrown-ff6ez]

​@@Getnsickofit*HOW DO YOU KNOW?. **#AFAF*

[@DistrustHumanz]

There is a nuclear reactor on the lake that depends on a stable water level...

[@12qwe349]

lots of airbnb/blackstone properties on the lake???

[@astrahcat1212]

Did Lake Norman even get it that bad?

[@kravenfoxbodies2479]

They used to call it a Mississippi boat ride = bye

[@daveb3910]

There's a lot of evil in these comments. I hope you all can find love and meaning in your life.

[@blaster1012]

Always live on the high ground

[@Arisaem]

I think this is privileged rich people owning lake side property complaining about the other privileged rich people owning lake side property that weren't hit as hard. You really don't want to flood Lake Norman because if THAT dam fails, everyone down the Catawba is even more F'd. The entire city of Charlotte would flood. All those condos and gated McMansion communities near the Greenways would be very screwed. When I lived below the Lake Norman dam, I prayed with every hurricane that that dam would not fail and people need to be more grateful for that.

[@tommytaylor4458]

That’s where the millions of dollars are at!!!!🤬🤬

[@tannersorgenfrey7566]

bigger lake with longer coastline holds more water weird

[@slmey3r]

Absolutely asinine. Shame on you WCNC

[@wolfpacva]

I would not believe Duke for a minute . All energy companies lie all the time.

[@LouisVirieBlanche]

Homage to the fatalities and survivors of Hurricane Helene! My inner eyewitness yearns to testify! Blessed be the infinite diversity of unconditional love and the beloved presence of life’s all encompassing universal empathy! Here’s to the love light, tear driven, empathy infused compassion…in deep regards, and in heart felt homage to the fatalities and survivors of Hurricane Helene! I don’t imagine that the supporters of Donald Trump and/or the supporters of Kamala Harris, respectively care where the water, food, clothing, tools, shelter, and the supplies they require for sustenance and surviving, comes from?! From surviving, to reviving, on their compassion and empathy laden, love light way to thriving! Just as I don’t imagine if any of the survivors of life’s never ending meteorological events care if their first responders are Republicans or Democrats! Be it a blue state…red state…a fleeting state of mind or a permanent state of Being…unconditional love, empathy, and compassion…are all good…are they not?! Let’s vote in accordance to the golden rule! Let’s vote in individual-collective accordance with all we have in common with each other, instead of the fear ridden self serving, self delusional differences that seemingly dreamingly separate us, despite the overwhelming incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, we are all world citizen sisters and brothers! Let it be…the necessities…of the food, clothing, shelter, tools, amusement, fuel/energy, and the need for universal love that we all have in common with one another that awakens the acknowledgment of the star seeded birthright divinity we share! As cooperation and collaboration offer the infinite grace of life’s most divine inspiration…with each and every breath we breathe…infusing the dormant (yet inherent) golden ruled heart-mind centered intentions into the One For All…All For Oneness, embedded within the quantum entanglement of our thoughts, words, actions, emotions. and feelings! What a soul seasoning, spirit refining, heart-mind opening reintroduction to the golden rule of life!

[@Maybe1Someday]

Big lawsuitr incoming, Not looking good on duke

[@philiphorner31]

Nobody should live in those ravines unless 40' up off the river. Real expensive to cut a flat on a mountain side with good drainage. These people inherit it so they live there. God bless them but the rain eventually will take their homes.

[@kathybradbury]

So this event was probably planned years in advance.

[@angiepangie989]

Stop promoting people who don't know what they are talking about this is why Americans are so divided bc facts don't seem to matter anymore. Wtf

[@8ersoul8]

Get em

[@kramnull8962]

All summer long we were in drought.

[@petegregory517]

What's that old saying....."follow the money?" Never fails.

[@abelincoln3261]

Sue them take their homes their cars planes beach homes and billions... in banks and investments around the world.

[@johnm.robertssr.2953]

If you Believe that I have some oceanfront property in Arizona I want to sell you !!!

[@dosed2023]

Nah man, you're the type of person who was offered that and thought it was a great deal. Get wrecked boomer.

[@freedomfan3277]

Everyone knows that Duke energy would never lie. They are the most honest and trustworthy utility on the planet.

[@tomt9543]

Said no one ever!

[@DistrustHumanz]

Okay. Shut down the nuclear reactor on this lake that depends on a stable water level.

[@robertpiotti3110]

#IndictDukeEnergy

[@Tomcat71]

rich peoples problems ....

[@dan32one44]

Investigation please…

[@KennethGreenCMP]

Everyone is expert crypto, hydrology, meteorologist and rescue/recovery/FEMA expert these days.

[@soulsurvivor4499]

half of the people that are paid in those positions, are inadequate. it makes good balance

[@dosed2023]

And the people in these positions are just yes men with an education from 30 years ago who think they know best. This is spoken from personal experience.

[@gregbolton1480]

Someone with a home on Lake Norman didn't choose to risk their boat house and new boat and chose instead to risk some other poor soul's life belongings ??

[@RobertAllen-e4i]

Oh they managed it all right,for the rich,in my opinion.

[@PunkN_JTM]

Use your 2nd amendment, do not sell your land to foreigners... The people runnjng this needs to be investigated by mulit state agencies... If not.. street justice....

[@bobbyc7929]

GOT TO KEEP THE RICH SAFE BWHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@erikolsen1333]

Well I can tell you at lake Norman they are just concerned about their investments properties in the 828.

[@Data_on_trail]

There does need to be a Federal Investigation of the timing to Duke Energy's decisions to release or not release water from every one of their dams. For example, in TN, the Waterville Dam timing is VERY sketchy. Hurricane Helene did not cause to flood damage in Hartford and Newport TN - the Duke Energy choice to fully open the flood gates - PRIOR the Helene's arrival - is what did ALL of the damage there. Even if a Federal Investigation ONLY helps Duke and other make better choices in the future - there WILL BE more extreme weather events like Helene - and we (including Duke) are NOT ready for them. That is obvious. INVESTIGATE DUKE ENERGY NOW!

[@DistrustHumanz]

This one is easy; there is a nuclear reactor on this lake that depends on a stable water level.

[@P.90.603]

Climate change?

[@IronskullGM]

Classism and actions of modern robber barons..

[@julienrockingham-ip4co]

Rich people problems

[@co1urzz]

cry harder

[@Micah-e7q]

They broke it off in them.

[@trade504]

Like building a house on the river in north Carolina...we lost it all......your on a river......duhhhh

[@lisatirkot7210]

Omg . Grow up fascist trolls.

[@riccochet704]

If I had to guess you have pronouns.