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.

[Marie]

Sue the dikes?...

(shaking head whilst pinching bridge of nose with eyes squeesed shut) no no no...

I'll bet you've been saving that one up for years! LOL!

[oceanperch]

Was that the dam that the engineers never tested the gates prior to the time of that emergency or am I thinking of another dam story.

[oceanperch]

(cringing)

[chemicalman]

Hope my riding buddies are alright.

[NautiNurse]

Manatee Co. dam emergency made national news last June. Built in 1967, I found a reference that the dam was tested in 1982. ***sigh***

We'd had a foot of rain in the three days prior to the emergency.

[Amelia]

Well, I'd hate to be the private engineer and the private owner of the lake this morning.

I'd hate even more to be living downstream.

Hope everyone is okay.

[4everontheRight]

Prayers for those families affacted by this. I have quite a few friends and their families still living in and around the Hattiesburg area but I am not sure how this may or may not affect them Prayers for all though.

OT...can anyone tell me what is going on at USM? Am an alumni and heard rumblings were coming from over that way..teachers on probabtion or such. Anyone got any insight? TIA. Sorry for the off topic.

[realpatriot]

Re:USM

Go to The Sun Herald.

Lots of issues.

[sandmanbr]

Not familiar with this particular lake but I have seen the aftermath of a 50 acre lake's dam break and the destruction was awesome. I'm sure this break was devastating downstream for many miles.

[sandmanbr]

Do you have to work at being an a$$_ol_ or does it just come naturally?

[Quilla]

Often, when posting an article and in the interest of time, I will copy and paste all the required information (title, author, etc.) that I can. More than likely, this is the cause of many 'all capital' thread titles we see.

[Magnolia]

Thanks for the ping potlatch. Sorry for being late in responding. Prayers for those whose homes are destroyed...

[Magnolia]

Have you talked with your dad? Prayers for his safety.

[Diddle E. Squat]

The area affected is from the dam (about 9 miles west-northwest of Purvis and 4 miles east of the Marion/Lamar County line, just north of the Purvis-Columbia road where it makes a tight jog north then back west to cross Hurricane Creek) west down the Lower Little Creek through Pinebur and Hub along Hwy 13 to the Pearl River floodplain.

Here's an aerial photo of the dam:

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=13&x=159&y=2157&z=16&w=2

In the left column there is an option to switch to a topo map, and you can zoom that map out to gain perspective.

Here's one of the zoomed out topo maps that shows the area, but not the lake.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=2&s=16&x=19&y=269&z=16&w=2

[Diddle E. Squat]

If you are still trying to find out the areas affected, see post #54. Hope everyone is ok.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Often, when posting an article and in the interest of time, I will copy and paste all the required information (title, author, etc.) that I can. More than likely, this is the cause of many 'all capital' thread titles we see.

How would you like to read a board or a thread of messages in all caps?

[smonk]

USM has a new president that is terrifically unpopular with
the faculty. it's something of a running gun-battle, but
the most recent episode is the firing of two tenured profs.

the two profs in question were public in their criticism of
the new administration when it erroneously reported the
enrollment a couple of hundred high (which, probably not
accidentally, made them the largest university in
mississippi, which USM played up in the press) and also
attacked the newly hired VP as unqualified, and accused her
of falsifying qualifications on her resume.

now the president of the university is making veiled
references to criminal charges.

keep up with the details at

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/

and, what is an infinitely better newspaper :

http://www.clarionledger.com/

the sun herald, mentioned somewhere downstream in this
thread, is indeed also a good source of info.

[smonk]

infinitely preferrable to a board full of messages from
a$$holes, if you get my meaning.

[Happy2BMe]

>> dikes in S.F.

BWWaaa ha ahHHHaaa!

(You can get sued for that in Canada!)

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

a$$holes, if you get my meaning.

yeah, there are a LOT of ignorant dipsh/ts too