It could have been worse. The Kanawha River crested just under 30 feet Friday night at the South Side Bridge, swamping Haddad Riverfront Park and almost reaching the lights on the top of the stage. WCHS TV reported the record crest on the Kanawha is 47 feet in 1840 and before the 1950s it occasionally crested over 40 feet and flooded much of downtown Charleston. But since 1955 it has only reached 30 feet once – back in 2003. Dams have helped the situation. The creation of the Bluestone, Summersville and Sutton Dams by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers control how much water flows downstream and helped the flooding from becoming worse during the most recent rains.