Posted on 02/13/2017 2:35:51 PM PST by nickcarraway
While modern technology ensures safety standards are maintained at the 80,000 dams across the US, extreme weather and maintenance issues have resulted in some serious dam failures over the past four decades.
On Sunday, an urgent evacuation order was issued for 200,000 people living in northern California amid fears of an imminent collapse of the nearby Oroville Dam spillway.
Oroville, America’s tallest dam, remains intact but the emergency spillway, which helps prevent water from overflowing when levels are high, is eroding. Heavy rainfall has filled the dam to the verge of overflow, posing a huge potential risk to downstream communities.
Here, RT.com takes a look back at some of the most deadly dam failures in recent US history.
March, 2006: Seven people died in Kauai, Hawaii when the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam burst, unleashing 400 million gallons of water onto the island. The dam’s poor maintenance, lack of inspection and illegal modifications were blamed for its failure.
November, 1977: 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam failed in Stephens County, Georgia after heavy rainfall. A combination of factors including erosion and landslides were blamed for the failure, which caused $2.8 million in damage, and the dam was never rebuilt.
Decades of disaster: 7 of America’s worst dam failures in recent history (VIDEO) 5,000 cfs of water flow through a damaged spillway on the Oroville Dam in Oroville, California, U.S., February 10, 2017. © Max Whittaker / Reuters
While modern technology ensures safety standards are maintained at the 80,000 dams across the US, extreme weather and maintenance issues have resulted in some serious dam failures over the past four decades.
On Sunday, an urgent evacuation order was issued for 200,000 people living in northern California amid fears of an imminent collapse of the nearby Oroville Dam spillway.
Oroville, America’s tallest dam, remains intact but the emergency spillway, which helps prevent water from overflowing when levels are high, is eroding. Heavy rainfall has filled the dam to the verge of overflow, posing a huge potential risk to downstream communities.
Here, RT.com takes a look back at some of the most deadly dam failures in recent US history.
March, 2006: Seven people died in Kauai, Hawaii when the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam burst, unleashing 400 million gallons of water onto the island. The dam’s poor maintenance, lack of inspection and illegal modifications were blamed for its failure.
November, 1977: 39 people were killed when the Kelly Barnes Dam failed in Stephens County, Georgia after heavy rainfall. A combination of factors including erosion and landslides were blamed for the failure, which caused $2.8 million in damage, and the dam was never rebuilt.
July, 1977: The most infamous US dam disaster in recent memory killed 86 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania when heavy rainfall and flooding resulted in six area dams failing. This was the second dam failure to hit Johnstown – 2,209 were killed after a flood in 1889.
June, 1976: The Teton Dam released 300,000 acre-feet of water when it failed abruptly in Northeast Idaho, killing 11 people and causing more than $1 billion of damage.
June, 1964: The worst flood in Montana’s history killed 28 people after the Swift Dam and two lower dams failed, releasing around 46,000 acre-feet of water.
March, 1963: Six people died and more than $6 million in damage was caused followed the Spaulding Pond Dam failure in Mohegan Park, Norwich, Connecticut. A lack of proper hydrologic design, poor maintenance and a lack of understanding regarding the potential impacts of a dam failure on the town were cited as causes for the disaster.
Dec, 1963: Five people were killed and 27 injured in Los Angeles after the Baldwin Hills Reservoir suffered a serious leak through its east abutment, breaching the dam and releasing a total of 250 million gallons of water.
A few years back, I read McCullough’s “The Jonestown Flood”.
There is no level of imagination that can come close to picturing what that must have been like.
McCullough’s book was monumental——you felt like you were there as the catastrophic events unfolded.
[America’s tallest dam]
Is it called that because it is really the tallest or the highest built dam?
.
Worst dam failure?
That would be ... Hellary.
Oh, you meant the other kind of dam.
Also the Lake Peigneur incident where a lake emptied into a mine due a drilling error. Not a dam breaking, but still a water disaster.
bookmark
“Ballad of Johnstown”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FflLbjKkwUQ
Its the tallest dam. Hoover is second.
I think Obama was one of the worst dam’ failures we’ve ever had.
Man does not have the only dam disasters.
My grandparents had a log cabin at Big Portage lake near Backus, Minnesota. There were 2 beaver dams I saw around 1976.
One was a tall dam that must have been there for years and the 2nd was in the process of being built by the beavers further upstream. It was wider then the first. We were able to walk across the older dam while seeing the beavers and hearing the slap of their tails.
They were located between 2 lakes on a creek with Big Portage downstream from Four Point lake. There was a meandering stream from Big Portage that I went up from the lake. The mouth of which was very weedy. Much pushing and paddling to get in. You could see where they must have been other dams as ponds were formed. The dams moving upstream as the decades/centuries passed.
Very narrow at times with floating weeds in dirt we would push off of. The stream was kept open by the beavers moving material thru. They would build smaller dams across some sections which we would gun the motor and go over. Took a few hours to go to the dams even though it was only a few miles straight because the path was so crooked. Marshy around the area so no walking in.
Forward to 1986 or so when I visited. The mouth of the creek was wide and no weeds as before. The dams had failed and a wall of water came down at night and ripped out all the dirt and weeds. We motored up and saw trees torn from the banks. We got close to where the dams use to be but it was so tangled with debris we could not go all the way.
Satellite views from google today show where the dams were by the wide spot in the creek. I was there in 2005 and the entrance to the creek was blocked. Not enough flow of water.
I’ve got a copy of HISTORY OF THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD by Willis Fletcher Johnson printed in 1889.
The description of the flood will give you nightmares. After the flood, lowbrow “Eastern European” immigrants (Huns) were found looting the dead. They were promptly strung up or shot.
First descriptions of the new fangled “electric arc lights” used to illuminate the scene at night as they tried to free bodies from the packed debris. It was packed so tight they finally had to use Black powder bombs to break up the mess.
I remember reading about one in Italy about 40 years ago. The dam didn’t break, a landslide into the lake created a wave which went over the dam and flooded the valley. The people who lived near there then attacked the builders of another dam in the area.
That reminds me of a landslide in Alaska that caused a tidal wave over 1/4 mile high. Hard to believe. but it seems to be pretty well documented.
I can remember when the Steeler defense was nicknamed the Johnstown Dam instead of the Steel Curtain.
No mention of the Buffalo Creek West Virginia disaster? As I recall, over 100 people died in that flooding, after a coal slurry drainage pond dam gave way.
If that’s the one I think it is, there is good video in a documentary. Amazing to watch for sure.
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