I have been checking The Gilboa Dam Information site regularly, since last week's flood. I suspect that you will be as distressed as I was when you read today's entry about the failure of emergency warning systems for the affected area.
To put it simply, nothing worked.
I know that up here on our hill we were almost entirely cut off from outside communication. Although we have a generator, cable TV was out and local radio stations went right on running talk shows and playing lousy music as if nothing had happened. Thankfully we still had a phone, so my parents let me listen to TV bulletins over it. However, many folks had nothing and the systems that should have been operational failed.
There are thousands of helpless peopleliving in the footprint of that antiquated structure. I think some serious attention had better be directed at effective emergency warning before it is too late. This week should serve as a lesson in preparedness....or the lack of it.
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6 comments:
That's really scary! I, too, was monitoring that site and others that showed the levels of water in the dams and rivers.
Right now it wouldn't take too much rain to trigger another flood. Everything is saturated. I agree with you that the emergency warning system needs to be addressed now.
Scary. Glad you are on a hill, at least!
Ye Gods! Frightening!
In Quebec, a family successfuly sued the government when a damn was "released" (to curb flooding) without warning... a woman was sunbathing near the river that the flood gates emptied into and, despite the fact that there were warning signs present, she was washed out into the river and drowned.
The Quebec Hydro electricity folks claimed that "she" was to blame for being in a clearly marked security area and they felt that they did not need to sound the warning sirens.
What's even more funny/tragic is that the Quebec government tourism industry actually listed the same riverbank as a place for "sunbathers" despite the obvious safety issues.
The Hydro folks lost the lawsuit.
Rurality, hi!
We are very fortunate to live up here. We had to go west to get some chopper parts today and saw just how extensive the damage is in the small towns up there. Horrendous!
Hello Matther, what a horror story. Here upstate we have ancient dams that supply power and water to NYC and they don't seem too concerned about the potential danger to people here.
Nancy, I didn't forget to answer you, I just thought I already had. It has the potetial to totally devastate this region.
It is already bad. We couldn't even get through Canajoharie today because of the clean up efforts from this past storm. How did your boss fare with the flooding? We saw that the street was still closed when we went up to check on Agway
Glad to see you survived the big flood. I was in DC when it rained so heavy for two or three days. Street flooding was a big problem there. Hope you dry out soon and not to much damage is left behind.
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