i cannot believe the DAM(s) faled in MI.
 

effen unbelievable!!

i need to read up more, but it isnt a big reach to think this is not what they needed right now, or ever.

i'm hoping PPOT folks are nowhere near that place.

Midland, MI?

^^^^ Indeed! I saw that early this morning on the news...a strange bridge with three legs that met in the middle.

It's ark week here too...

Stay safe!

After Flint, I think Michigan is in a bad way. No money. Old infrastructure. Recipe for cascading problems.

i am not sure. but arent DAMS federal? army corp of engineers?

poor Michigan. that sucks nevertheless.

Dams are run by the state in California

Sad news.

I'm sure there are a few other dams (and bridges...) around the country that are close to failure with enough heavy rain. Living on borrowed time.

When living in MI, I had 2 houses on the Tittabawassee River that would've been impacted by this. Had family evacuate last night. What's surprising is that the dam didn't fail years earlier. It was a well-known disaster waiting to happen. 90+ years old. Numerous structural defects. Did not meet Michigan dam safety standards. Was shut down by the Feds and license of owner pulled a few years back after a 15-year battle. Wixom Lake (man-made lake/reservoir impounded by the dam) was emptied a couple of years ago due to concerns. A group of property owners recently bought the dam (and 3 others on the same river) because they were tired of looking at an empty lake in front of their vacation homes. A $20 million dam repair plan was drawn up.

But here's the amazing part: the repair plan was scheduled to start in 2023, including $5 million from the State and the rest to be assessed to property owners. Sounds good so far. But then somehow, they get permission from the State to fill the lake back up last year with a completely unrepaired, structurally defective dam impounding the water :eek::eek: Who approved this??

Feds had classified this as a High Hazard Dam due to the looming disaster for the City of Midland and Dow Chemical downstream. Wonder if anyone will be held accountable? :rolleyes:

Wow, you ruined my lake front property by draining the lake. Now EVERYONE gets to have lake front property.

Exactly!

Very sad for the folks that live in the area. Everyone likes to live along the water, be it a lake or a river. The problem is mother nature like to have heavy rains. In 2016, flooding was the number-one cause of weather-related fatalities.

My understanding is dams downstream have broken or are about to.

The lawyers better start raiding the documents now before the 'Approval' doc is shredded. Someone's signature has to be on it.

in addition. i cant believe i dont know how to spell "FAILED". haha

wow!!

Glen - agreed, but in most cases - and certainly this one - it wasn't the heavy rain, it was the poor condition of the dam. The same is true for most dam, bridge, etc. failures. I think our aging infrastructure is catching up with us all.

Who is the 'they' that got permission to refill the lake?
Those are the people that should be hanged.

Oh yeah, and then my neighbor here in FL stopped by last night in tears and said 'I just lost my house'. Her house was on Wixom Lake and she has no flood insurance.

i cant be sure, but i would imagine draining the dam, and letting it relax, and then filling it up and putting the dam under load is worst than never draining it in the first place.

i am not a dam expert, but this applied to all my 911 oil seals.

LOL...I didn't notice until you pointed it out ;)