CARRIERE, Miss. — The Anchor Lake Dam near Carriere came close to disaster this week after heavy rain pushed the structure to the edge of failure, forcing dozens of families from their homes before officials lifted evacuation orders late Thursday night.
The trouble began Thursday afternoon when Pearl River County emergency managers noticed the dam was nearing its water capacity.
Within hours, the National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency, warning that a breach could send a wall of water rushing down the East Hobolochitto Creek with little notice for anyone living downstream.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves confirmed that at least 30 homes were evacuated as a precaution while crews scrambled to assess the dam.
The hardest hit area sat east of Interstate 59, between East Boley Road and West Union Road, where residents were told to leave immediately and head to higher ground.
Officials with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s Dam Safety division rushed to the scene and found water flowing through both the primary and auxiliary spillways.
That was a relief, since it meant the dam still had a way to release pressure, but engineers cautioned that storage capacity was extremely limited. With more rain expected, there was real concern that the spillways could be overwhelmed if the storm did not let up.
For a few tense hours, confusion spread about whether the dam had actually given way. An early report based on information from the National Weather Service suggested the dam had failed outright. That information was later corrected.
The dam never breached. It remained intact throughout the emergency, though it stayed under close watch as crews monitored every shift in water level.
Calm Returns As Water Recedes
By Thursday evening, conditions had started to improve. Water levels began to drop, and the flash flood emergency was allowed to expire without the worst-case scenario coming to pass.
The Pearl River County Office of Emergency Services announced that the voluntary evacuation order for those living south of Anchor Lake had been lifted, allowing residents to return to their homes.
Even with the order lifted, officials urged caution. The Pearl River County Office of Emergency Services asked anyone who had evacuated and chosen to return to keep monitoring updates from emergency management, since conditions along the creek could still shift quickly.
A Flood Warning remained active for the East Hobolochitto Creek, a reminder that the danger had eased but not disappeared entirely.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said inspectors did find erosion in some areas of the dam during their assessment. Despite that damage, the agency expressed confidence in the dam’s overall structural integrity and said it would continue watching the site around the clock.
Ongoing Monitoring And Regional Flooding Concerns
The scare at Anchor Lake came amid a broader stretch of flooding trouble across South Mississippi. Heavy rainfall tied to the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur triggered rescues and widespread road closures throughout the region in the days surrounding the dam emergency.
Pearl River County, in particular, has faced repeated flooding threats, with reports indicating the county was bracing for a third flood event within just four days.
Other infrastructure in the area also showed strain from the relentless rain. A separate dam in neighboring Harrison County was reported to have sustained structural damage due to the heavy rainfall, underscoring how saturated the region’s waterways and water control systems had become.
For now, Anchor Lake Dam stands monitored but stable. Emergency officials say they will keep watching the structure closely as the threat of additional rain continues to loom over South Mississippi.
