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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Major Dam Flood Crisis Along The Missouri |
| 2011-06-08 |
| Six old, huge, faulty dams that normally have reserve space for spring snow melt are nearly full now — before the spring floods start. St. Louis could be flooded. Four of the nation's 10 largest reservoirs are along the Missouri River — Fort Peck, Fort Randall, Garrison and Oahe. Three of these had less than five feet of total storage space behind the floodgates at the end of May. With a combined height of 700 feet, these three dams are nearly full. Melting snow surely will complete the task. Effective flood control from six large dams is no longer an option. As a Corps of Engineers representative said, "It now moves us into uncharted territory." Here is a likely scenario: Garrison, Oahe and three other downstream earthen dams would have to catch and hold a massive amount of water, an area covering nearly 250 square miles 100 feet deep. But earthen dams, when overtopped with floodwater, do not stand. They break and erode away, usually within an hour. All are full. There is a possibility a failure of Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of all five downstream dams. It probably would wreck every bridge, highway, pipeline and power line and split the heartland of the nation, leaving a gap 1,500 miles wide. Countless sewage treatment plants, toxic waste sites and even Superfund sites would be flushed downstream. The death toll and blow to our economy could be ghastly. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 Not too long ago, I read an equally dire prediction for the rivers of the Pacific northwest. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-06-08 19:41 |
| #4 "That was a historic missed opportunity." That's the Dems for you, Matt. Just like their heroes, the paleos, they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-06-08 18:43 |
| #3 It occurs to me that we might not have this problem if we had spent the $800 billion porkulus money on actual infrastructure improvements instead of using it as Nancy and Harry's personal slush fund. That was a historic missed opportunity. |
| Posted by: Matt 2011-06-08 17:10 |
| #2 Heard a good one watching a STL Cardinals game recently; Anheiser-Busch (sp?) encouraged a program for employees to go without shaving their beards in order to conserve water. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-06-08 16:45 |
| #1 I read a while back the reason the dams level weren't lowered in anticipation of the snow melt was so that plover nests (an endangered wading bird) wouldn't be washed out. Let's give thanks to our benevolent government who are always on the watch for our and little birdies' best interests. For the hundreds of thousands of citizens downstream whose homes and jobs may be flooded out, the hundreds or thousands killed and the millions affected by having our country cut in two, let them take comfort in the knowledge that their travails resulted in a few dozen freaking eggs hatched. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-06-08 14:54 |