Dam

[Dragon]

This happened in the neighboring county. The wash out took out many homes, but luckily no injuries have been reported so far. It was an 1,100 acre lake that contained around 3.5 billion gallons of water.

The flood's devastation grew Monday to a total of 97 homes and other structures either destroyed or damaged in Lamar and Marion counties.

Dam Break

Does this happen more frequently than one might think? Has this ever happened to any place near you?

 

[mendelman]

I don't know if it happens often, but this was similar to the reason for the Johnstown, PA flood and destruction in 1884.

The Big Bay Lake project started in 1987 when Tatum first applied with the U.S. Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg to dam up Big Bay Creek creating a lake that would be the centerpiece of an upscale subdivision

Were the people downriver who were destroyed by the flood part of the upscale sub.? Why do developers insist on such dumb amenities for certain developments. They're not real lakes, they are usually just big cesspools and/or mosquitoe factories.

 

[michaelskis]

Has this ever happened to any place near you?

Yep


http://www.mqtcty.org/psaFlood.htm

This this was less than a mile from where I went to school. I lived in PA at the time, but it was not a fun thing and what a mess.

 

[Belle]

Does this happen more frequently than one might think? Has this ever happened to any place near you?

If you're interested, there's a great book on this subject, Cadillac Desert, about the damming of the West's rivers and the often fatal (and predictable) consequences.

 

[biscuit]

Some of the Southeastern Cyburbanites might recall, or have heard of, the Taccoa Falls flood in November 1977. A large and sudden downpour caused a dam above the falls to break flooding the campus of Taccoa Falls College and killing 39 people.

 

[nerudite]

In 1928, a dam outside Los Angeles broke and swept 450 people up and took them (and their belongings/houses) several miles and dumped them into the Pacific Ocean. Here's an article.

 

[Dragon]

Were the people downriver who were destroyed by the flood part of the upscale sub.?

Nice point there. I think very few homes that were destroyed were upscale homes. The land value for the homes in the subdivision just went way down.

After looking through some of the other links, people in the near by communities that were affected came out lucky.

 

[Cardinal]

We have two dams in the city, both impounding lakes of around 200-250 acres. One dam failed in the early 1900's. It did some damage but nobody was killed. I know we did a failure analysis of one dam and found that it will not really have much of an impact. It empties though a small channel into a riverbed with tall banks. The flow of water out of the lake would be controlled by this, and though it would raise the surface area of the lower lake by a few feet, most of the houses on the shore would be above the flood level. I do not know what would happen if the lower dam failed. I was trying to identify sources of funding to acquire one house directly below the dam, which would certainly feel the brunt of the flood. It appears that all of the FEMA monies for mitigation are for places that have suffered flooding, rather than those that might have flooding problems. If anyone has ideas onthis, pass them on.

 

[jestes]

Nice point there. I think very few homes that were destroyed were upscale homes. The land value for the homes in the subdivision just went way down.

The majority of the homes downstream from the dam were lower income and/or mobile homes, although I realize that may be redundant. The dam was classified by the state as a high-hazard dam because of the downstream properties. Most of the upscale development was around the lake perimeter. Lots in the area were generally selling for $50,000+

By the way Dragon, don't you find it weird that we communicate this way when we are only rubberband shooting distance from each other in the office?

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

In 1983, the town of Thistle, Utah was obliterated by the creation of a damn caused by a landslide that backed up the Spanish Fork River. Had the same affect as a damn breach. The highway is open and it is interesting to drive it and see what is left of the town.