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The Triangle Copes With High Lake Levels

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FALLS LAKE — Although the sun came out today, the remnants of last week's rain and flooding are still prevalent.

For example, Falls Lake is still over the banks and most picnic areas are underwater, which means that picnicking this weekend could get a little crowded.

The beach at Beaverdam is also flooded, and forced sunbathers to move to higher ground.

Lisa Celedonia, one of the park visitors, said, "We came with every intention of being on the beach and letting the kids play near the water, but when we got here we saw that it was too high."

The sun-worshipers were fortunate to find the recreation area open at Falls Lake, because other places are still shut down. Sandling Beach down the road has a picnic shelter that would serve better as a boat house. However, there is too much water for boats.

David Kellam, the park superintendent, said, "Basically your stop signs out here that's where actual boat ramps start down, where people would go up to and then back their boats down into the water at that point."

All of the boat launches at Falls Lake are underwater, thanks to a week of rain that left the lake at its highest level in history.

"This is unusual. It's my understanding that this is the third time this year that we have looked at and dealt with a hundred-year flood," Kellam said.

The banks at Jordon Lake also overflowed its banks, and was forced to close all of its daytime recreation areas. However, the news is better for campers. There are limited campsites available at both Lakes.

If you are going camping this weekend, the best advice is to get there early, because It is first come, first serve and space is limited.

As for boating, all state park boat ramps are closed, but there are some unsupervised boat ramps open. However, there could be floating debris and underwater hazards that could damage the boat.

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