DAM BREAKS IN SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, FLOODING DOZENS OF HOMES

AP Breaking News ^ | 12 March 2004

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

PURVIS, Miss. (AP) - A dam holding back an 1,100 acre lake in southern Mississippi broke on Friday, damaging dozens of homes and several roads in two counties, authorities said. Following the failure of the Big Bay Lake dam, state emergency officials found 43 homes damaged and 12 mobile homes destroyed. Gov. Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency for Marion and Lamar counties.

Officials had not determined whether anyone was missing or injured, search crews were going door to door in areas below the dam, west of Purvis. Chip Gibson, a local pilot, said when he flew over the area it appeared the lake had been completely drained. "About a 150- to 200-foot section of the dam was gone," he told The Hattiesburg American newspaper.

[Palladin]

Hope all our Mississippi FReepers are O.K.

[NautiNurse]

I've been trying to find out info about the type of dam, without success.

We were under a flood warning last summer when the dam up river couldn't open the third gate during very heavy rains. The water was rising at an alarming rate. Frightening.

[potlatch]

Did you see this thread?

[onyx]

Ditto. Maybe Hurricane can tell us more.

[onyx]

Yes ma'am, just saw it a minute ago.

[potlatch]

Sorry to re-ping you!

[onyx]

Don't be sorry! Thank you for pinging me.

[lewislynn]

LOL! However, it wouldn't surprise me if he hadn't lied and double-dealed with them.

He did, he bombed their embassy in (Bosnia?).

[Fifth Business]

[StriperSniper]

Must have been sloppy handwriting on the al Qaida instructions, it was supposed to be "blood running in the streets of the infidels!" not "bass running in the streets of the infidels!"

;-)

[kayak]

Prayers for your family and for all those affected by this. Please update us when you make contact with your Dad.

[Libloather]

Sue the dikes? For what - wetness?

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

so by typing the title in all caps means that its a EMERGENCY! OH GAWWDDD NOOOOOOOOO! ID HATE TO SEE HOW YOU TYPE A MESSAGE WHEN AMERICA GETS HIT BY A NUKE! MAYBE YOU'LL MISPELL WORDS AND INCLUDE @@#$ AS WELL!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Found this on google:

"Big Bay Lake - a 1,000 acre lake in Lamar County, Mississippi. The dam is a 40 foot high earth dam with a poured concrete box for a permanent spillway and a grassed spill through as an emergency spillway."

http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:_hMgM6fPUosJ:www.sd-w.com/resumes/nick.html+mississippi+%22big+bay+lake%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

There is no way in heck I'd ever live below an earthen dam, too many of those types have failed. Someone needs to pay big time for this failure, there is no excuse. Either it was poorly designed, poorly constructed, or not adequately maintained and inspected. My hunch is that this was a privately built dam, but that's just a guess. Several of those fast and loose private lake developments have had earthen dam failures, though this one is larger than the ones I recall.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Don't be a jerk. We don't yet know if anyone is missing, and many have lost their homes. I don't really see any humor in that.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the info. Had a feeling it was an earthen dam too.

I wonder if Mr. Connolly is sleeping tonight...

[NautiNurse]

Man, you are going to dislike yourself and your hangover in the morning.

[Diddle E. Squat]

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/updates/4891.html

Gov. Haley Barbour has declared a state of emergency today after a dam on Big Bay Lake burst, inundating homes and forcing road closures.

Officials said the dam was last inspected in June 2000. This morning a private engineer reportedly had been called to the dam to investigate a leak, but had said the structure appeared safe, officials said.

People in surrounding areas have been evacuated from their homes.

So far no deaths or injuries have been reported but some homes have been reportedly washed away. Big Bay Lake, located 6 miles southeast of Marion County, is a privately owned manmade lake, covering about 1,100 acres.

The latest figures from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency show 12 mobile homes destroyed and 43 homes damaged. Two barns and three storage buildings were damaged and a bridge was washed out.

MEMA spokesman Lea Crager said the 5:45 p.m. report does not include any information on whether anyone in the area is unaccounted for.

Former Lamar County Supervisor Bill Bishop, whose district in the mid-1990s included the Big Bay Lake development, said he saw flood waters 30 feet deep and a small house washed away on Purvis to Columbia Road shortly after the dam broke.

The Bay Creek dam is located just north of the Purvis to Columbia Road.

Chip Gibson, who works with Southeast Aviation at the Bobby Chain Airport said he flew over the scene Friday and it appeared Big Bay Lake had been completely drained.

"Based on my observations from the aircraft, about a 150 to 200 foot section of the dam was gone," he said.

Gibson said he could see several houses that were flooded, and a section of roofing was wedged against a bridge that was underwater. One house was on higher ground and appeared to be cut off from road access, he told the Hattiesburg American.

[smonk]

my family is from Mississippi, and my folks retired in Jones
county. I graduated from Southern Miss, which is about 20
miles away from Purvis.

at any rate, I talked to my folks earlier tonight, and local
law enforcement is still trying to get an idea of the extent
of the damage. there just aren't too many details, but
apparently it totally drained the lake.

the local TV station has what at least appears to be a
hopeful report, as far as injuries go:

http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=1708284&nav=1Pw1LUwZ

and a tiny bit more info from the hattiesburg american:

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/updates/4891.html

I wish I could tell you more. I'll say a prayer for your
dad, and I'll post any additional details my folks hear.

[SuziQ]

Good grief!! My Mama is in a nursing home in Lumberton! I just got on FR after a long day, so I didn't know anything about it. I don't have any messages from family members, so she must be fine!