#Dam Failures

[wausaupilot]

Wisconsin dams are failing more frequently, a new report finds

The state is home to more than 4,000 dams.

(Associated Press)-Wisconsin is seeing more frequent dam failures in another sign that the storms blowing through the state are growing stronger. Wisconsin recorded 34 dam failures from 2000 through 2023, the second-highest total for that period behind only South Carolina, the Wisconsin Policy Form said in a report released Thursday. More than 80% of the failures — 28, to be exact — happened…

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

The Taum Sauk Dam Failure and Its Legacy

Managing an electrical grid is all about balancing the electricity that plants can supply with the instantaneous demands of consumers. If there's more power available than people need, it needs to get stored somehow. And for decades, the best way to store that excess supply has been in hydroelectric reservoirs like at the Taum Sauk Dam. (Video and image credit: Practical Engineering) Read the full article

[aisling-saoirse]

Stump Pond Dam Failure, Smithtown, Long Island

Around August 19th 2024, Long Island was subject to about 9 inches of rain saturating the area in one day. There wasn't much long lasting flooding, Long Island is sandy, composed of glacial deposits following multiple ice ages. Damage still occured and water catchments were drastically overloaded, nearby Stony Mill Brook Dam also burst

The pond's dam was constructed in the very late 1700s to service a grist mill, then known as the Blydenburg-Weld House, the pond recieved its name because (like most recreational ponds in the Americas) it is not a natural feature, intentionally flooded leaving behind many stumps. Given their rot resistant longevity in the environment (and presence next to the former water channel visible in image 1) I would say the stumps were Atlantic White Cedar, a species still present but kind of rare in long island.

It was clear the earthen dam couldn't take the pressure of modern weather, intense weather events are becoming more frequent in a warming climate (higher temperatures increases air saturation which leads to more intense storms). There is a 50' chasm (visible in the image below middle-left) where the dam was, rebuilding a proper dam would take millions of dollars.

While Suburban Long Islanders might lament the loss of this recreational pond (my aunts included) I honestly think this is a great habitat restoration opportunity. The former pond was frankly hazardous, frequently subject to toxic algae blooms triggered by surbanite fertilizer treatments (my biggest pet peeve).

The Nissaquogue River channel is still present in the topography, while 200 years of sedimentation has created a hazardous deep mud/peat deposit, plants have begun to reclaim the dry bed (last image). I believe personally a floodplain restoration would be the easiest future environmental/recreational use for this area but Long Island is not known for caring about the environment (endless sprawl) so...we shall see. Rebuilding the pond would still be better than another strip mall/suburb/golf course/highway.

[the-physicality]

c*thy and chr*stie are the same in that they will both get labeled "successful" for what happened under their "leadership" but at the end of the day all the good things that happened happened in spite of them.

[proserpine-in-phases]

The upper midwest is flooding while most of the rest of the continental us is under a record setting heat dome. Do you think some people around here (my coworkers specifically) might start believing in climate change now?

[qqweebird]

i love my major i love geology/geologineering and paleontology but i hate how… loosey goosey this field is about precision… like obviously they are good diligent scientists but most applications of this study are so large scale that like, decimal points either arent going to make a difference or you literally *cant* in good conscience claim a result to that precision. and when i was mapping in wyoming last summer so much of my job was “just write down what you think is true to your best logical conclusion and if someone disagrees they can go climb the mountain themselves”

[hennethgalad]

these dams fall like dominoes

rewilding will help

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The management solution the government thought to apply was to privatise the national water supply, but that system has failed to deliver either sufficient environmental flows to keep fish alive or enough to maintain the profits of downstream farms.¹²

12. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has failed to balance the needs of farmers south of the massive cotton-farm dams and the needs of the environment. The idea of selling water, in some cases more than actually exists, has proven a horrible failure. See Kath Sullivan, 'Water Trading's "Unintended" Consequences across Australia's Southern Murray-Darling Basin', ABC News, 13 July 2019.

"Country: Future Fire, Future Farming" - Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The warning from the county government was grim. The Rapidan Dam, a feature of the southern Minnesota landscape for more than a century, was “in imminent failure condition.”

“We do not know if it will totally fail or if it will remain in place,” officials said on Monday as dead trees and other debris piled up at the dam and floods overwhelmed the Upper Midwest.

At one point, a support structure alongside the dam partly failed and gushing waters carved out a nearby cliff. Video footage showed a nearby building collapsing on itself and being sucked into the river. But by Tuesday, the main part of the dam was intact, and water flows were beginning to slow. A worst-case scenario, it seemed, might have been averted.

“The Rapidan Dam, we think, is going to continue to hold up,” Bob Jacobson, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said late Tuesday afternoon after state officials flew over the dam to survey the damage. “But there are going to be more assessments in the future.”

Experts said the damage and continuing risk in Minnesota underscored the decaying state of the country’s dams and the dangers they could pose when things went wrong. Many catastrophic floods begin with dam failures, and breaches in recent years in states like Michigan and Nebraska have led to widespread destruction.

With climate change making dangerous weather more common, and the average age of an American dam approaching 60, the problems are only expected to get worse.

“It’s the perfect storm, because we are dealing with more severe extreme weather events, and because it’s just the nature of time these dams are getting older,” said Hiba Baroud, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University.

The problems at the Rapidan Dam, about 90 miles southwest of Minneapolis, came after a period of severe rain that led to widespread flooding in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. At least two deaths were linked to the floods, which destroyed homes, swamped farmland, overtopped levees and caused a major railroad

“This, again, was an unprecedented amount of rainfall that came in a very short period of time,” Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota said. “Many of these communities, I don’t know how they could have prepared for what they saw.”

Though river levels were dropping on Tuesday in many of the hardest-hit places, some evacuation orders remained in effect, major roads were closed and cities downstream were bracing for potential damage. Moderate flooding was expected in the coming days on portions of the Missouri River in Iowa and Nebraska, and major flooding was expected on parts of the Mississippi River in Iowa and Minnesota.

[newsarticletoday]

Consequences of Glen Canyon Dam Failure

[jesika0011]

Most Massive Dam Failures Ever Caught On Camera !!

[moonlightazriel]

Hey there, I feel like this is a necessary post because we have some Brazilian girlies here.

The southern state of Brazil, my state, is literally underwater right now, thousands of people lost their homes, some died and some are missing due to heavy flooding. If you're in one of the affected areas, please be careful, pay attention to the news as some emergency numbers aren't working anymore, they're sharing new ones. Seek safe shelter, either with family members or the public ones. There's also a risk of dam failure, the Civil Defense is constantly updating on those, be aware to know when you have to evacuate the area. If you can help with donations or even sharing the news to get to more people, you're more than welcome. I'll leave some links showing how to help. Please be safe, it's a disaster out there! And no matter what your personal belief is, please pray for those people.

Civil Defense - To get updates on the situation

SC Internacional - To donate

Grêmio - To donate

Public shelter in Porto Alegre

Civil Defense - To donate

[boccher]

Separate dam failure in North Carolina and also affecting Tennessee

From the NWS:

...FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY FOR TOWNS AND CITIES IMMEDIATELY BELOW WALTERS DAM ON THE PIGEON RIVER...

The National Weather Service in Morristown has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for... A Dam Break on the Pigeon River below Walters Dam in... Western Cocke County in east Tennessee... Southern Hamblen County in east Tennessee... Southeastern Jefferson County in east Tennessee...

* Until 930 PM EDT.

* At 330 PM EDT, dam operators reported the failure of Walters Dam causing flash flooding downstream on the Pigeon River.

This is a FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for towns and cities immediately below Walters Dam on the Pigeon River. This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!

Friday Sept 27:

Millions are without power this morning and underwater.

Do not go into floodwaters. It is not safe. There is debris, animals, pathogens, and god knows what else in the water.

[yawnderu]

Situationship!Ghost seeing you cry for the first time while having sex save me...... save me Situationship!Ghost seeing you cry for the first time while having sex

His hips halt the moment he sees you're not fully into it, the same eyes that used to look up at him with raw admiration are now distantly looking at the ceiling with a familiar gloss in them, your moans timed and fake. He slowly pulls out of you, pulling the blanket over your naked bodies, yet keeping his distance.

''What is it?'' He asks with a small sigh, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why you even initiated things if you're not even into it.

''I'm sorry— I can't do this.'' Your attempts to get up are interrupted by Simon pulling you back into bed, one hand gently grasping your jaw to make sure you're looking directly at him even when your vision gets blurry and the dam finally breaks. Cruel bastard he is, wanting to see you cry.

The sound of your sobs rips into his heart without hesitation. There isn't another sound he hates more. You should be laughing, the giggles that secretly make him so happy should be coming out of you rather than these loud sobs. He knows you're in pain— he knows he's the one who caused it, and he can't forgive himself for hurting someone he loves so much, even when he hasn't come to terms with it.

His arms wrap around your body, one of his warm hands running up and down your back and squeezing you tightly against his body, feeling the mix of warm tears and snot wet his bare chest. It breaks his heart to feel the way you cling to him in a state of such brokenness, the way you trust him so much despite all his failures and mistakes.

'''M sorry, angel. I'm so sorry.'' He whispers right into your ear, his apologies only for you to hear as he rocks you from side to side, gently wiping the tears from your eyes with the palm of his hand. He doesn't have any other words for you, only the silent reassurance that you'll always be safe in his arms.