A set of pumps was delivered from Birmingham, Alabama to the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam on Friday evening to be installed at the levee to drain the water to a safe level and relieve pressure on the dam.
The board of supervisors contracted with the equipment rental agency Herc Rentals after receiving bids from multiple companies, Emergency Management Agency director Kristen Campanella said in a press release. The county will close the portion of County Lake Road between Riviera Road and Walter Bell Road indefinitely when installation begins Friday night.
County Engineer Clyde Pritchard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been monitoring the levee since Tuesday, when Pritchard found early signs of breaching.
After the water level goes down in several days, engineers will cut off the dam’s primary outlet valve in order to keep the water level low. The valve was completely underwater Thursday afternoon but is now visible.
Authorities also found a new sinkhole in the levee at the Oktibbeha County Lake late Thursday afternoon, according to a press release from the county Emergency Management Agency.
There was no water found inside the sinkhole, and as of this morning there have been no changes to the levee since Thursday, Campanella said in a separate press release.
The recommendation for area residents to evacuate will become a mandate if water starts streaming out of the levee or if the mudslide in the seeping area of the levee reaches the pavement on County Lake Road.
Pritchard estimates that it would take anywhere from 22 to 24 days to lower the water level of the lake by five feet, possibly eliminating the danger of imminent dam failure, if the area receives no additional rainfall and if the pumps can drain the lake at 25,000 gallons per minute, according to the release.
County officials installed three 8-inch pipes and one 10-inch pipe on Tuesday that have been siphoning water off the lake. The pipes might decrease the amount of time it would take to lower the water to a safe level, the release states.
The water level in the lake has dropped about two feet since Thursday due to the pipes already installed at the levee and the fact that the area has received very little rain since Wednesday, Oktibbeha Sheriff’s Captain Brett Watson said.
The EMA has also requested sandbags to be placed along County Lake Road to divert for rainwater and stop the mudslide on the levee from progressing.
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