HOPE MILLS, N.C. (AP) -A dam burst Monday under the pressure of a rain-swollen lake, forcing the evacuation of about 40 houses and a rest home.
The dam on Hope Mills Lake broke about 10 a.m.
Police officers went to the homes and the Happy Valley Retirement Center to direct people to leave. A shelter was set up at a high school.
Most of the rest home’s residents are ambulatory and the water was unlikely to reach them, but officials “didn’t want to take any chances,” Nunnery said. The retirement center has about 30 residents, according to a woman answering the telephone there.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for central North Carolina after several days of steady rain.
Fayetteville, about 10 miles north of Hope Mills, recorded about 3 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending Monday morning, the weather service said.
AP-ES-05-26-03 1349EDT
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