Water level rises at Deer Point but no major problems reported

SOUTHPORT — Water levels at the Deer Point dam have begun to recede, but not before they topped out at 7 feet last week.

The lake level was at 6.2 feet Monday morning, still well above its normal 5 feet.

“For the most part, the levels are still receding ... We could still be a few days from returning to normal levels,” said Valerie Sale, Bay County spokeswoman.

While some yards near Deer Point were the county’s utilities and emergency management departments did not receive any calls about the high water levels, Sale said.

“… to my knowledge we haven’t gotten any calls or complaints,” Sale said.

There’s also a potential that docks and boathouses were getting flooded, Sale said.

Problems were mitigated because the county knew in advance the rain would be intense and lowered the dam’s drawdown gates June 27. They have remained open. The gates allowed for maximum flow of the dam’s water out into North Bay.

That early action allowed the county to get half a foot below normal levels in preparation for the heavy rain, Sale said.

While the intense storms that swept through late last week is finished, rain remains in the forecast. Thunderstorms are predicted for all but one day this week.

That could be problematic, if the downpours come fast and voluminous like they did last week.

“Certainly if we were to get the level of rain that we got late last week, yeah that could cause some serious problems, but at this point it looks a lot better,” Sale said.

The situation is out of the county’s control now; it’s done everything in its power to prevent any damage, Sale said.

“We can just continue to monitor it and do the best we can to return the lake level to normal, but things worked out pretty well over there for this event,” she said.

Lorie Lawrence, of Panama City, was visiting the family lake house Saturday and saw the consequence of those heavy rains. The dock at the family’s lake house was under water.

“I don’t ever remember it being underwater like that before,” she said, adding, “I’ve never seen the water that high there before.”

Lawrence said the family walked on the dock, and it seemed pretty sturdy, so she thought it would be fine once the water recedes.

Lawrence said the lake house was not flooded, though the yard took on plenty of water. She said neighbors had similar problems — submerged docks and flooded yards, but no water damage to their homes.

“The water came over the seawall and so everything was just super soggy and wet,” she said.

“It looked like most everybody was OK,” she said.