Drip. Drip. Drip.
Infrastructure failing in extreme events. More people wake up to find themselves in an uninsurable flood zone.
People in parts of Nashville, Illinois, were told to evacuate their homes by emergency personnel due to a dam failure in the area.
“Attention The Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent,” a post from the Washington County Emergency Management Agency said. “Please evacuate your home at this time. If you are in the grey box, you need evacuate now!”
The agency posted a map highlighting the affected area, which included Nashville Grade School and Nashville High School. The emergency management agency said 299 phones were called to deliver the evacuation order. Emergency personnel said they received a call from a woman who said she was stuck in her home in waist-deep water. No injuries have been reported as of 10:40.
The director of the Illinois Department of National Resources’ Office of Water Resources said the secondary dam failed, but it is designed to fail with high water levels. The primary dam did not fail but was overtopped by rising waters, the director said.
Haglund said all major routes through the area are closed. A spokesperson with the emergency management agency said people who are not in the area highlighted on the map are asked to remain in their homes and stay off the roads as much as possible. Anyone who is driving in the area should not drive through standing water.
“The director of the Illinois Department of National Resources’ Office of Water Resources said the secondary dam failed, but it is designed to fail with high water levels. ”
This is a useful (if confusing) practice, since the damage caused by catastrophic failures of big dams can be much more devastating than staged failures.