Torrential rains are flooding the mountains of North Carolina, posing the risk of a dam bursting

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Days of torrential rain in North Carolina culminated with tropical downpours from Hurricane Helene. Officials are keeping a close eye on a major dam, the two main highways in the mountains are closed and flooding is occurring everywhere.

More than 30 centimeters of rain fell across much of the region in recent days, laying the foundation for a looming disaster as Helene passed through as a tropical storm on Friday morning. At least two deaths were attributed to the storm.

The strong, fast-moving hurricane made landfall along the Florida Panhandle late Thursday and reached the mountains 12 hours later. Wind gusts gusted to 108 miles per hour (174 km/h) on Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi.

All roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed because driving is too dangerous, the state Department of Transportation said. Interstate 40 was closed near Old Fort west of Asheville, and Interstate 26 was shut down south of Asheville near Hendersonville.

Gov. Roy Cooper said crews had performed 100 quick water rescues as of Friday morning. About half of them were near Asheville.

“The priority now is to save lives,” Cooper said, adding that no one should be on the road unless they are seeking higher ground.

Officials in Rutherford County were monitoring Lake Lure Dam as water flooded the entire length of the dam.

There is some erosion on one side of the dam caused by the overflow, Kat Russell, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said Friday.

City officials are monitoring erosion, she said.

The lake, which flows into the Broad River, was formed almost 100 years ago. The dam is 480 feet (146 meters) long and approximately 120 feet (36.6 meters) high.

The dam is “doing what it’s supposed to do, but the water level is just too high,” Russell said.

Communities downstream had been alerted to the flooding but were told they had several hours to alert residents to their own evacuations if necessary, Russell said. State authorities in North Carolina and South Carolina have also received contingency plans in case conditions worsen.

The lake is known for filming some scenes from the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing.”

Roads were washed out, preventing first responders from answering some calls, said Ryan Cole, deputy chief of Buncombe County Emergency Services.

That included a mudslide that affected four homes and left an unspecified number of people missing, Cole said.

“This is the worst natural disaster any of us in Western North Carolina have ever seen,” Cole said.

In downtown Boone, flooding occurred in areas that officials did not recall. Appalachian State University has canceled its Saturday football game against Liberty University, citing the severe impact of weather in the area.

Forecasters compared it to the benchmark flood of 1916, which killed 80 people, damaged dozens of miles of railroad tracks and isolated Asheville and other mountain towns for days.

Several rivers were above or near record crests and flooding was not expected to recede until at least Monday.

In Biltmore Village, just outside the famous Biltmore Mansion, the fast-flowing waters of the overflowing Swannanoa River reached over the hoods of vehicles. It was a scene that rescue workers had expected in many other places, as all the rain that fell was forced to flow downhill into the sea.

“It’s terrible. I don’t know if I’ll ever see anything like this again,” said Spencer Tate Andrews, who came to the area to see the flooding. “I’m glad I got to see it, but at the same time it’s terrible and will affect a lot of people and businesses.”

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Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.