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Dam failure: food for the opposition.
Over 100 years ago, a catastrophic dam failure caused
thousands of deaths and wiped out a town. Before the failure:
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and after:
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And where could this have happened? Who lives near Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania? Well, this dam failure occurred just over 2 hours west of
Harrisburg, in Johnstown, PA.
source: Johnstown Area Heritage Association
Web Site (#)
A little more recently... in 1928, the failure of the St. Francis Dam, near
Los Angeles, California, killed hundreds of people. Here are the before and
after shots.
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Only 200 feet of the center section was left after the flood!
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How would you like to live through that situation and see if you
can stop a disaster? Try the
St.
Francis Dam Flood Simulation (#).
source:
Educational Technology Department,
San Diego State University (#)
Dam failure is one reason that people are opposed to dams.
The overall incidence of dam failure is low, but there are a number
of other reasons.
On March 11, 1997 the First International Conference of
Dam-Affected People was held. How had dams affected them?
Why are people opposed to dams?
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