Breaking MSNBC: Dam fails in MO. People reported missing.

[Squatch]

http://www.msnbc.com

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Our infrastructure is fine.

[sarcasmo]

37. Keep sending Billions to Iraq, the Gulf coast and Missouri need no help.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

61. Exactly.

And only Communists need a school lunch program.

[hippiechick]

2. Send in the ... National ... uh ... wait, they're all in Iraq ...

... uhhhh ..... oops. Again. Tsk, tsk George !!! :blush:

[Lindsay]

3. Crumbling infrastructure.

While Bu$hCo wants another - what? hundred billion? - for killing Iraqis.

My head hurts. My heart hurts. This insanity has got to stop.

[slackmaster]

48. As I understand it, the dam is owned by a power company

It's owned by a corporation, not part of the public infrastructure.

This is a case of corporate neglect. The only government failure here is in oversight. I'd like to know what responsibility the county and state governments have before blaming everything on the feds.

[thefloyd]

4. MSRNC could at least

mention the town or damn jesus

[TheDebbieDee]

6. You're right! I'm in Kansas City and I have no clue

where in Missouri this happening!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. You're safe in KC

the dam that broke is in SE MO on the Black River.

[greyl]

8. I was surprised that there are hundreds of dams in MO:

http://www.brainygeography.com/types/MO.dam.html

Over 20 on the Missouri River.

"Dams in Danger: People at Risk?"

THE PROBLEMS.
Missouri’s aging small watershed dams are experiencing problems
that include deteriorating pipes and sediment filling the sediment pools. The dams are
reaching the end of their 50-year lifespan, and need to be rehabilitated.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ws_reinvent/dams_in_danger/20_DAMS/Missouri.pdf

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. Black River in SE MO

about 100 miles south of St. Louis. There is danger of a storm surge, which means towns in Arkansas are also at risk.

[hatrack]

5. Upper Taum Sauk Lake Dam - Reynolds County - Link

LESTERVILLE, Mo. -- A dam in rural southeast Missouri failed Wednesday morning after a night of heavy rain and one person was missing, authorities said.

A family of five was rescued after the Upper Taum Sauk Lake Dam failed, the Reynolds County Sheriff's Department said. Conditions along the Black River were considered dangerous, the National Weather Service said.

EDIT

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-dam-failure,0,5933231.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[SaintLouisBlues]

47. Lower dam holding, but is being over-topped

If the lower dam breaks this will go from bad to worse

St. Francois Mountain region. Very rough topography.

[hatrack]

50. And overtopping isn't generally considered beneficial for dams

Crossing fingers here.

[KamaAina]

54. Should we rebuild Lesterville, Mo.? (sarcasm)

After all, if we pour millions into rebuilding it, the dam will just fail again in a few hundred years, and then where will we be? They should just accept reality and rebuild on a mountaintop somehwere. :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[DELUSIONAL]

7. the infrastructure throughout most of the US is crumbling

I've driven through Missouri several times and their bridges etc. are in bad shape. My guess is that this neglect of the infrastructure will cost us big time as bridges, dams etc fail more frequently.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. BushCo has turned us into

a third world country.

[x50600]

51. Have

you ever actually been to a third world country?

[DoYouEverWonder]

53. Yes

and New Orleans and the MS coast make some of them look almost affluent at the moment.

A music festival that I attend every year in So FL just got canceled because the park/venue is full of homeless people living in FEMA trailers. Looks pretty 3rd world to me?

[liberal N proud]

11. I lived in rural Missouri for 25 years

Their roads and bridges have always been notoriously bad.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

19. That's because of low gas taxes

Their gas taxes are some of the lowest in the nation. Traditionally, roads and road repairs come from gas taxes.

[ochazuke]

26. Oh, the Pork, the PORK!

Government, in collusion with engineering, construction, and transportation interests are using the "aging infrastructure" argument not to REPAIR and MANTAIN our roads and bridges, but to build even more and bigger roads and bridges that will require even more maintanence and probably not be built as well as the 50-100 year old ones they replace.

[Zynx]

32. We keep putting this off, but the more we do the more it will cost when

we eventually have to.

[ochazuke]

36. Right, but...

My point is that by replacing bridges with poorly constructed and larger bridges, AND by building new highways and needlessly adding lanes to underutilized roads, we create a FUTURE intrastructure cost.

We should stop this culture of pork barrel politics, and bring the engineers down off Mount Olympus.

Build and maintain sustainable infrastructure in keeping with a sustainable economy. (dammit)

[Zynx]

52. I actually agreed with you, but didn't state it well.

Sorry. :-)

[theHandpuppet]

29. Our tax money to build bridges and roads in Iraq

Gee, what do y'all think we could have done right here with that 400 billion?

[mallard]

65. Our tax money to build bridges and roads in Iraq?

Our tax money to blow bridges and leave the roads of Iraq a deadly mess.

Their infrastructure is not making headway - quite the opposite. The money is 9o% wasted and 10% profit for the 'elite' few.

[Judi Lynn]

55. Missouri could have used the money blown on Steven's "Bridge to Nowhere"

in Alaska.

Missouri Republicans have been all too proud of promising lower and lower taxes to get re-elected. The roads and bridges there are, as you pointed out, unbelievably awful. Nightmares.

The Republicans are in control of Missouri, and it's easy to see at a glance.


.

[hatrack]

10. 1.5 billion gallons of water, assuming this is the same reservoir

Whoops.

EDIT

The Taum Sauk Project is located in the Ozark Highlands on the east fork of the Black River 90 miles southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Project construction began on 1 June 1960 and the plant's two reversible pump-turbines went into commercial service on 20 December 1963. The project is used primarily to meet daily peak power demands by drawing water from the 4,350 acre-foot captive upper reservoir through the turbines. The water is then pumped back to the upper reservoir from the 6,500 acre-foot lower reservoir at night when power demand is low. The upper lake is 92 feet deep, kidney shaped, with a 55-acre surface area, is one and one-quarter miles in circumference and holds 1.5 billion gallons of water.

EDIT

http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/milestones_photos/taum_sauk.html

[Ganja Ninja]

12. Thank God the dams in Iraq are fine.

[minyks]

13. The

Roads in MO are a joke they passed a tax several years ago to repair them then used the funds for other programs. Their problems were started long before Bush came to office.

[Toots]

14. Who is their governor?

:shrug: The rich pay for nothing there...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. Matt Blount

son of Rep. Roy Blount who is the temp. Majority Leader in the House.

[hatrack]

24. AKA Governor Skippy - Stupid, self-righteous yuppie twit

:puke:

[HeeBGBz]

30. Blunt

[SemperEadem]

63. Blunt

just like the one you smoke.

[Bridget Burke]

22. Once, the Federal Government helped with infrastructure....

A sound infrastructure helps national security & commerce. And upkeep would provide a bunch of jobs.

But most rich guys are not like FDR.

[TheDebbieDee]

34. No stuff! A couple of years ago, it was announced

that either a state or federal highway bill had been passed that would allow I-70 across Missouri to expand from 2 lanes to 3 lanes in both directions.

The Dept of Trans can't take care of the 2 lanes in each direction that they already have.

[newyawker99]

66. Hi minyks!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[hadrons]

15. will MO. fundies blame God for this???

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

21. No. As long as no one can get an abortion

they will be happy.

[stepnw1f]

16. The Country Crumbles Under the GOP

The GOP is one extremely expensive and negligent political party. The "dam breaking" is symbolic...

[JPZenger]

23. 30 Dams Blew Out in One Storm in South Jersey

In a storm a couple years ago, 30 dams blew out. Fortunately, no one died, but there was great property damage. For years, many smaller dams were not inspected.

In recent years, there has been a stronger emphasis on getting dams rebuilt (at great expense) or removed. The goal is to avoid another Johnstown Flood that killed thousands.

[madrchsod]

25. here`s some idea what the area- looked- like

http://www.bearcatgetaway.com/
Canoe Missouri: camping, float trips, and concerts, Black River, Lesterville, MO
http://www.riversedgeblackriver.com/
Riverside camping on the Black River, Lesterville, MO

people missing , one dead, and beautiful river valley is washed away....

[Algorem]

27. maybe a building will fall down and block the water

look at the sunny side

[thefloyd]

28. The roads

in Missouri have always been bad despite Bushco. Weather in Missouri does not help

[superconnected]

31. the story on msnbc

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10464128/

[Hyernel]

33. Here's a chance for FEMA to redeem itself...

...Oh never mind. They've probably got someone already lined up to blame and take the fall.

Heckava job!

[Hypatia82]

35. Ahh nothing like quality civil engineering...

of which you will find little in the US and what was good is now bad due to age and lack of upkeep. Just how it's been day in day out for ages. Except for the Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge and a few other things, there's not much to hang a hat on. Then again those projects were run basically like private projects with public funds. No committees to report to, just do it right and do it by such and such date. But then there's the highways. Max design life of 25 years before they have to be totally torn up and rebuilt. Has nothing to do with salt, weather or anything else. Has to do with shallow roadbeds. Deeper those go the longer a road lasts. Witness the German autobahn. Far better build quality and far better maintanence.

[ochazuke]

38. Oxymoron

"Quality Civil Engineering" Haven't seen any lately.

Planned obsolescence, more like.

Have a look at this: Guy in Ohio is building covered bridges that are partly made of WOOD, yet can outlast ferro-concrete.

USAToday article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-24-covered-bridges_x.htm

Same thing in Google cache: http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:q5OMQV2t-OQJ:www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-24-covered-bridges_x.htm

[Thor_MN]

64. Does the US's reliance on truck freight play into road deterioration?

I have nothing to back it up, but I have to imagaine that a fully loaded semi puts far more wear and tear on the roads than an equivalent weight of passenger vehicles. We have thrown away our rail system in favor moving freight cross country by truck. I remember seeing stickers on the backs of trucks saying how much this vehicle pays in annual taxes. I can't recall seeing one in years - makes one wonder if what they pay now in taxes comes even close to covering the maintenance costs they create.

[benburch]

39. Dam Breaks in Southeast Missouri, People Missing

http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=4243445&nav=0jsh

Dam Breaks in Southeast Missouri, People Missing

LESTERVILLE, MO - The Upper Taum Sauk Lake Dam in southeast Missouri failed this morning, causing large amounts of water to move rapidly downstream.

Reports say people are missing.

The National Weather Service says at least one home along the Black River has washed away and a tractor trailer and some other vehicles were washed off a highway.

<SNIP>

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

40. Warnings going up downriver

The Black River goes into Arkansas, and there are several towns on that river there. Let's hope no one else is hurt.

[stepnw1f]

41. See... We Don't Need Federal Money

for such things. Nah... that's for them Socialists.:sarcasm:

Who loves ya, Baby?

[wordpix2]

42. U.S. infrastructure falling apart as Iraq War heads to $500 billion

There's a DU link on this story, too

http://cbs5.com/topstories/topstories_story_347213415.html

[benburch]

43. We have a debt we can never repay.

Bush has beggared America for the indefinite future.

[Az_lefty]

44. Is this in the area around Ellington?

My son lives there and I haven't been able to call him. He's difficult to reach during the day anyway. I'm just trying to get an idea of what area this river is flowing through.

[Theres-a]

45. Looks north of there

http://local.google.com/

[SaintLouisBlues]

46. Ellington is fine

Well away from the Black

[hatrack]

49. "Causing large amounts of water to move rapidly downstream"

Yeah, that tends to happen when dams fail.

As if we needed to have some AP copywriter explain that to us . . .

:eyes:

[Thom Little]

56. Reservoir breach in S.E. Missouri prompts evacuation, washes away homes

About a billion gallons of water poured through a breach at a hydroelectric plant's reservoir in rural southeast Missouri this morning, washing away an unknown number of homes and vehicles, and critically injuring three children, authorities said.

The early morning breach occurred in the upper of two reservoirs at the hydroelectric plant run by St. Louis-based utility AmerenUE, company officials said. One person had been feared missing, but was later accounted for, authorities said.

Gov. Matt Blunt said three or four family members were hospitalized after water swamped their home at a state park where the father is superintendent.

Three children with critical injuries were being transported to a hospital in St. Louis, 120 miles to the northeast. A spokesman for Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital did not have the names of the children and could not confirm if they were related to the park superintendent. He said a 7-month-old suffered from hypothermia, and a 3-year-old and 5-year-old had breathing problems.


http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/NEWS01/51214002

[bullimiami]

57. quick, call brownie.

[KamaAina]

58. But should the park be rebuilt? (sarcasm)

If we rebuild the park in the same place, it'll just flood again, and then honest, hard-working taxpayers who don't even live in Missouri will be on the hook to rebuild it again and again! Time for those poor deluded park rangers to accept reality and move someplace safe like Yellowstone! :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Cobalt Violet]

59. I wonder if it hit a low income neighborhood this time too?

Hmmmmm.

[stlsaxman]

60. BFD... glad no one died. now our electric bill will go up.

:boring:

[donheld]

62. A map

[newspeak]

67. so was it corporate owned?

I mean Bush is for privatizing everything, because we all know corporations are so responsible and really, really believe in the welfare of others. Just like that Clear Sky initiative where corporations will just voluntarily police their own poison spewing shite! The foxes are guarding the henhouses again. Lest we forget the Savings and Loans debacle. All Hail the glorious Bottom Line!!!!!!!!

[0007]

68. Gotta rebuild Iraq - Gotta give Iraq a Democracy -

Meanwhile our treasure is disappearing, our military is being weakened, our highways and bridges have much to be desired.

[saged52]

69. Ameren UE's resevoir

just some facts - my husband works for Ameren - but on the other side of the river from Missouri - I just wanted to share this - - - the CEO of Ameren got a $150,000. raise as of December 2005. And he is eligible for an $800,000. bonus next year. The union workers were told that costs, manpower and overhead needed to be cut.