That doesn't sound good
How worried are they about the structure of the dams?
Reports are a statement from the Army Corps at 5:30.
Unconfirmed reports according to John Corby on WTVN:
--Precautions taking place at Battelle Laboratories in Columbus, which is on the Olentangy. Equipment to be moved to higher floors.
--Sandbagging is reportedly taking place at the American Electric Power headquarters in downtown Columbus.
--Evacuations along Neil Avenue in Columbus.
I drove by the Olentangy earlier in Columbus. It is high. Releases of water will have a huge impact.
http://www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil/wc/scins.htm
Information on the whole Scioto Basin with water figures.
You can only store so much water behind a dam. If the flood crest is still upstream and the lake unable to absorb the inflow then releases are necessary. What they are trying to do is attenuate the flood, by absorbing what they can and adding to the lake capacity by spilling. It is a carefully calculated process to release on the tail end of downstream flooding. However, if they don't discharge, even worse can happen.
It might not be the structure of the dams. The Tennessee Valley Authority, from which I retired a couple of years ago, regularly lowers its reservoirs to make space for winter flood waters then gradually releases the accumulated water to provide for navigation and power production.
The important thing is to catch the big rush and then allow it to flow out gently over a period of time. Hopefully, in this case, the Corps is making a controlled release that will not cause serious flooding to make space in the reservoirs to catch the flood that's coming. If they didn't, even if the dams held, the whole river system would go into free flow, resulting in massive floods.