dam

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188K Calif. Evacuees Don't Know When They Can Go Home

Dam area is still in danger, officials say

(Newser) - Helicopters dropped giant rock-filled sandbags into place Monday to shore up a California reservoir that had threatened to breach its banks and unleash a 30-foot wall of water, but officials said an evacuation order covering around 188,000 people would stay in place until they are sure it's safe...

More Than 100K Evacuated Near America's Tallest Dam

Oroville spillway collapse could be catastrophic

(Newser) - More than 100,000 people fled their homes in northern California on Sunday as an emergency spillway next to America's tallest dam threatened to collapse and unleash what authorities called a catastrophic amount of water along the Feather River. While the evacuation took place, emergency repairs were performed on...

Iraq Facing Potential 'Catastrophe of Biblical Proportions'

Mosul Dam breach could pose greater threat than ISIS

(Newser) - As Iraqi forces continue their battle against ISIS in Mosul, there's another problem lurking just 25 miles away from the embattled city: the Mosul Dam, a structure the US Army Corps of Engineers has called the "most dangerous dam in the world," per a piece by Dexter...

Pact Signed for 'Biggest Dam Removal in History'

Dams at Klamath River are closer to coming down

(Newser) - What may be the world's biggest-ever dam removal is closer to happening in Oregon and California after years of talks—and without approval from Congress. Both states, federal officials, and the utility PacifiCorp are among those who agreed on April 6 to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath...

Iraq's Shaky Dam Could Flood 1M in Hours

US Embassy warns Americans to have escape plan

(Newser) - Americans in Iraq should be poised to leave at any minute—but not because of any terrorist threat. In a security alert , the US Embassy in Baghdad notes more than a million people could be drowned or left homeless if Iraq's largest hydro-electric dam on the Tigris River breaks...

Iranians Hacked NY Dam: Officials

And that's only beginning of stream of hacks against US infrastructure

(Newser) - Iranian hackers who targeted American financial institutions two years ago were also apparently curious about a small dam in upstate New York—and officials are worried what this means for the security of US industrial infrastructure overall, the Wall Street Journal reports. The hackers reportedly infiltrated the controls for the...

Pontoon Boat Is Swept Over Dam; 1 Dead

Another 8 are rescued

(Newser) - Tragic, but it could have been much worse: Authorities rescued eight people who were aboard a pontoon boat when it got swept up in the current on Maryland's Lake Linganore yesterday and went over a dam, reports the Frederick News Post . They could not, however, save the boat's...

Biggest-Ever Dam Removal Frees US River

Salmon already returning to Washington's Elwha River

(Newser) - The biggest dam-removal project in history is complete and Washington state's Elwha River is running freely for the first time in more than a century. A blast yesterday destroyed the final 30 feet of the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam, completed in 1927, on the Olympic Peninsula. The older, 108-foot...

Dam Dumps Deadly 'Wall of Water' on Students

Dozens missing after hydropower station releases rush of water without warning

(Newser) - Rescuers in rafts and boats were searching a Himalayan river today for dozens of Indian students swept away when a dam released a rush of water without warning, and police said four bodies had been found. The 25 students from the southern city of Hyderabad had been taking photographs last...

Dam's 65-Foot Crack ... Seals Itself

Wanapum Dam now a "non-failure emergency"

(Newser) - Crisis at least temporarily averted: A massive crack in a dam on Washington state's Columbia River has been downgraded to a "non-failure emergency" after it apparently fixed itself. After divers discovered the 65-foot-long by 2-inch-wide crack last week, officials warned the dam could fail and lowered water levels...

Washington State Dam Could Fail: Officials

Public not in danger from 65-foot crack, they say

(Newser) - A dam in the Columbia River in Washington State has developed a crack 65 feet long and two inches wide, and officials are warning of a "potential failure." The public, however, doesn't face any danger, officials say, per the Seattle Times . "Catastrophic failure is very unlikely,...

World to Get Its Tallest Dam
 World to Get Its Tallest Dam 

World to Get Its Tallest Dam

1,030-footer gets OK from environmental ministry

(Newser) - The title of world's tallest dam may shift to a new country in a decade's time. Plans for a 1,030-foot dam—45 feet taller than the current title holder, Tajikistan's Nurek dam—have gotten the green light from China's environmental ministry. The $4.4 billion...

Bad Weather Blamed for Brazil Blackout

60M affected after wind, rain knock out transmission lines

(Newser) - Heavy rain and strong wind last night caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians—60 million people—in the dark, officials said today as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The weather made transformers on a...

Millions Without Power in Brazil

Problems at huge hydroelectric dam spread beyond border

(Newser) - Trouble at the world’s largest hydroelectric dam has millions in Brazil without power tonight. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro—the nation’s largest cities, with combined metropolitan populations well beyond 20 million—are affected, as are many smaller towns. An official at the Itaipu dam tells the BBC...

Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50
 Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50 

Burst Jakarta Dam Kills 50

'Mini-tsunami' destroys sleeping neighborhood

(Newser) - At least 50 people were killed today when a Jakarta dam burst, unleashing a 10-foot-high "mini-tsunami" that destroyed a neighborhood, reports the Times of London. The dam burst before dawn as people slept. The toll is expected to soar as more bodies are discovered. One neighbor recalled how she...

Draining Quake Lake Floods China Town

Soldiers blast holes in dam; 'Now we can never go back,' says survivor

(Newser) - A town devastated by the Sichuan earthquake was flooded today as soldiers worked to drain a dangerous quake lake, reports Reuters. Water whooshed into Beichuan after explosives and missiles were used to blast holes in the dam created by the earthquake. Some 250,000 people downstream had already been evacuated.

China Evacuates 80,000 on Flood Fears

Dam caused by quake-formed landslide threatens to burst

(Newser) - Chinese officials hurried to evacuate 80,000 people today near quake-hit Beichuan as waters rose in a dammed river, the AP reports. Soldiers are working to blast and dig a channel to drain some of the 34 billion gallons of water now held by the fragile dam, created by a...

70,000 Homes Collapse in New China Aftershock

69 reservoirs in 'immediate danger'

(Newser) - Quake-devastated China suffered yet another major setback today when it was rocked by the strongest aftershock since the May 12 earthquake, Bloomberg reports. At least one person was killed and 400 injured when a 5.8 magnitude quake toppled some 70,000 homes in Sichuan province, according to Reuters. The...

Food Dropped to Indian Villagers
Food Dropped to Indian Villagers

Food Dropped to Indian Villagers

(Newser) - Helicopters dropped food today to some two million Indian villagers left stranded by heavy monsoon rains, the AP reports. Floods in South Asia have driven 19 million from their homes and left hundreds dead. Villagers have been killed by collapsing houses, violent waters and even panicked rhinos as neck-deep water...

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