After historic rainfall in the mountains of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, the TVA has worked to manage record amounts of water that flow into the Douglas Dam. TVA spokesperson Scott Fiedler told News 2 that water has been held back to protect areas like Knoxville, Lenoir City and even Chattanooga.

TVA's system of dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries has been tested by record flooding from Hurricane Helene, which drenched Western North Carolina and East Tennessee as a tropical storm , washing out interstate lanes and trapping residents as small streams in the Great Smoky Mountains suddenly became raging rivers.

The literal floodgates are open all along the Tennessee River as it moves Helene's floodwater from the Smokies to the Ohio River.

The destructive and deadly Hurricane Helene stalled over western Kentucky and Tennessee early Saturday but still left nearly 3.8 million homes and businesses in the dark.

Despite the highest water levels the Nolichucky Dam had ever experienced, it stood firm during Hurricane Helene and is "stable and secure."

Video shows a casket floating down rushing water in Erwin, Tennessee after historic rainfall caused by Hurricane Helene.