In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Upper Taum Sauk Lake Dam near Lesterville, MO, was breached sending a twenty-foot wall of water down the
Black River. The Dam is part of a reservoir that is maintained by AmerenUE electrical utility. There had been heavy rains over night. Residents
downstream were evacuated and there have been reports of injuries.
www.kansascity.com
Water poured through a breach at a hydroelectric plant's rural reservoir in southeast Missouri on Wednesday morning, washing away an unknown number
of homes and vehicles, authorities said.
The breach occurred about 5:30 a.m. in the upper of two reservoirs at AmerenUE's Taum Sauk Lake Hydroelectric Plant, AmerenUE officials said.
One person had been feared missing but was later accounted for, authorities said. Gov. Matt Blunt said three or four members of the family of Jerry
Toops, who is superintendent of Johnson Shut-Ins State Park near the base of the plant, were hospitalized in nearby Ellington after water swamped
their home. Messages left at the hospital were not returned.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was investigating the cause of the breach. AmerenUE officials said there was no sign of foul play. The
reservoir sits near the New Madrid Fault Line, which often generates small earthquakes, but Blunt said no seismic activity occurred Wednesday
morning.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
This is still a developing story, so information is still coming in. Three children have been hospitalized in critical condition. One person was
thought be have been missing, but has now been accounted for.
Related News Links:
www.kansascity.com
www.disasternews.net
www.kait8.com
www.cbsnews.com
[edit on 2005/12/14 by GradyPhilpott]
