An Historic Day at Camp Canaan
June 10, 2019 will go down in history at Camp Canaan as a date all of us will not forget! Campers and camp counselors will reflect by saying, “Remember the very first day of camp in 2019?”
At 4:00am on Monday morning, Executive Director Matt Harper received a call from a Duke Power representative who manages the hydro-electric dam near Camp Canaan. He was told that they planned on increasing the water release to a level that would require the island to be evacuated. This call put into effect Canaan’s Emergency Action Plan for high water to safely get kids off the island before the river got to dangerous levels.
The overnight campers were all evacuated without incident and ended up having a full day of activities in and around Rock Hill.
The Cause of the Flooding
While Rock Hill received nominal rain over the weekend, Western North Carolina received more than 12” that eventually filled the upper parts of the river basin which eventually flowed downstream. Duke Energy put out emergency lake notifications on Monday morning as their operations team needed to open the floodgates at Wylie, Fishing Creek and Cedar Creek hydro stations. The result of this would be heavy flooding along the banks of the Catawba River.
Camp Canceled The Week of June 9-14
With a need to properly survey the damage to the island and to ensure the safety of campers, Canaan leadership elected to cancel camp for the remainder of the week.
Damage to Camp Canaan
Flooding at the island rose to levels not seen since 1940. The river levels equaled the height of the access bridge to the island, resulting in some damage.
One of the primary concerns for Camp Canaan is the structural integrity of the bridge. By the end of the day on Monday, June 10th, two structural engineers were on hand and both agreed the bridge held up very well. Out of an abundance of caution, a full inspection of the bridge will need to be conducted once the waters recede. Until that inspection can take place, bridge access will be limited to utility vehicles and be used as a footbridge.
Experts suggest it could be a couple of weeks until the waters subside enough to conduct the inspection. Until this inspection is made, an alternate plan for pickups and drop-offs will take place for camp beginning next week (June 16-22). Information on the new drop-off plan will be shared with parents of campers later this week.
Praises
God is Good! Everyone was kept safe and there were no injuries! Also, there was no damage done to any of our buildings! All flood waters were kept in areas away from all of our structures! We give thanks and praise to God for his protection and provision.
Our Needs
Currently, Canaan is dealing with a few flooded areas including the Sports Fields, Archery Tag Field, Fire Pit Area, Lake Canaan and the Low Ropes Field behind the Multi-Purpose Building. All of these areas will need the standing water pumped out to prepare for next week’s summer camp. Due to the flooding, Canaan incurred many unbudgeted expenses that total up to this point to over $125,000. These items include:
- Loss of Revenue – $70,000
- New Well Pump – $8,000
- Road Repair – $9,000
- Erosion – $10,000
- Bridge Repair – $15,000
- Camp Counselors – $12,000
How You Can Help:
If God has blessed you and you are able to donate to Canaan, please consider doing so. Together, we can reach our goal. For example, if 100 individuals donated $90, it would pay for our road repair. To donate, please Click the following button:
