Photo by Brian Raef, Raef Services

Brian Raef, of Byrdstown, Tennessee, submitted these photos of a rare sight. Raef was on hand at the time last week when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began opening the six floodgates at Dale Hollow Dam in Celina, Tennessee. This photo was made just as the sixth and final flood gate had been opened and water began cascading over the spillway.

Heavy spring rains caused the level of Dale Hollow Lake to reach within inches of the all-time record level set in March, 1975 when the lake hit 690.88 (feet above sea level). Dale Hollow hit 660.2 last Thursday, May 5.

Sunset Marina co-owner and manager Tom Allen, a Clinton County native, put the amount of water flowing through Dale Hollow Dam into perspective for the Clinton County News.

“The generators and flood gates combined were releasing 9270 cubic feet of water per second. This translates into 69,340 gallons of water per second which is visually equivalent to 8.2 tanker (tractor-trailer) loads of fuel every second. Yet DHL’s level only falls 4” to 6” every 24 hours with this elevation and discharge,” Allen told the Clinton County News in an email last week.