Observers caught an eye-opening sight at the Jordan Lake dam on Tuesday morning. The disruptive tide moved more like a rapid, gushing by with turbulence and velocity.
But it's all part of the process for how engineers are dealing with recent flooding.
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The lake has risen about a foot with all of Tuesday morning's rain to 228.5 feet above sea level — well above its normal height of 216 feet. A flash flood warning was issued on Tuesday morning, when Chatham County got 4-to-6 inches of rain.
On Friday afternoon, the water around the dam was observed at 230 feet.
The Army Corps of Engineers pumped out more than 90,000 gallons of water from Jordan Lake south toward the southernmost stretch of the Haw River and into the Cape Fear River. The Haw River flows into Jordan Lake, which serves as a reservoir. The Haw River crosses into Chatham, Alamance, Guilford and Rockingham counties.
"At this point, we're playing the long game, but we're releasing water for an extended period of time, because we have about 12 feet of vertical feet of water in flood storage in the lake that we're going to slowly reduce over the next couple of weeks," said Joe Bannerman with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Since July 1, parts of Chatham County have received 12 to 15 inches of rain. Halfway through the month, it's already one of the wettest Julys on record at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. There's already been 57 flash flooding reports in central North Carolina in July.
More late-day showers and thunderstorms are possible each day this week, causing more problems with soil in the area already saturated and lakes, rivers and creeks already having been at flood stage in recent weeks.
The lake can take on more water so that areas downstream aren't flooded. The water will rise along the river, but not to concerning levels.
"The lake is doing what it was designed to do, which is prevent flooding in downstream communities," Bannerman said.
Emergency teams used the environment to practice water rescue exercises. Jordan Lake has been the sight of several deaths in July, including a 19-year-old who drowned and two boaters who went missing and were later found dead.
Rangers like Bannerman are checking poles that dot the side of the dam, measuring water pressure on the dam. Other measurements down stream to know how much water they can release without causing harm to the south.
"We’ve saved hundreds of millions of dollars over the lifetime of this dam for downstream communities," Bannerman said. "When the water is released, it’s done with careful consideration."