CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the days and weeks leading up to the destructive flooding downstream of Mountain Island Lake, the lake’s water levels exceeded Duke Energy’s own target, leaving homeowners wondering why the utility did not drop Mountain Island Lake’s levels in advance of Helene moving into town.
“I don’t understand,” Erik Jendresen said. “Anybody who wants to say this was an act of God, well, it had an active accomplice in Duke Energy as far as I’m concerned.”
Jendresen said Duke Energy’s inaction harmed the people of Riverside and Lake Drive once before. He was one of several dozen people who sued the utility company after a 2019 flood, alleging negligence, among other things. The lawsuit, which he said resulted in a settlement “that was satisfactory to both parties,” accused Duke Energy then of failing “to lower dam levels to accommodate the expected heavy rainfall,” in part…