A failing earthen dam prompted an overnight flood warning for areas of White County in northeast Georgia, but the warning was lifted shortly before daybreak Wednesday.

The dam at Lake Wendy began leaking on Monday, said Ana Newberry, spokeswoman for the White County Fire Department.

White County Fire Department (ENLARGE)

The dam at Lake Wendy began leaking on Monday. The lake, off U.S. 129 north of Cleveland, is on the property of Camp Barney Medintz, operated by the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

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At one point, water gushed from the lake at a rate of about 13,000 gallons a minute, Newberry said.

The lake, off U.S. 129 north of Cleveland, is on the property of Camp Barney Medintz. The camp is operated by the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

Newberry said the flood warning for Jenny's Creek below the dam was posted around midnight, and lifted at 6 a.m. once the lake's level dropped to a point that it was no longer a threat. The lake was about one-third full Wednesday morning, Newberry said, and the camp's owners planned to continue draining the lake throughout the day.

She said that while there are few residences close to Jenny's Creek, "we did have two that we were quite concerned with, and we reached those folks last night to make them aware to keep watching the waters."

Camp officials "noticed that the water was bubbling on Monday, and it finally started to breach Monday evening," Newberry said. "It was spewing about 13,000 gallons [per minute] Tuesday afternoon."

Newberry said that by Wednesday morning, the water "was not rush and gushing where it was threatening anything. Now, we're just wondering, how are [camp officials] going to repair this."

Newberry said the recent drought actually kept a potentially dangerous situation from being even worse.

She said the lake's level "was already low because of drought conditions. Had it been up, we would have been in a lot of trouble."