Major Iraqi dam in danger of collapse

[Dinner]

You must like fairy tails.

[dannubis]

Originally posted by AAHZ


Noah dealt with a flood that wiped out all of known civilization... and they didnt have the media telling them, "God is extremely pissed off at us today and is going to wipe us out and start all over again. In other news we have just discovered the secrets of Sodomy!"

so if they want to leave let them leave and survive. if they want to complain and blow up marketplaces instead.. then...

tough cookies.

More milk and less booze is good for the brain

[ZEE]

if any of you think there will be any sort of coordinated effort by anyone other than the US or the UN of building a new dam, then it is yall that believe in fairy tales and are drinking booze

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
I absolutely do, along with Bush, Sr. who decided to go along with them and not rip Hussein out screaming and clawing the first time.

And how exactly would we have done that, without access to fuel and resupply, and with an effective mutiny of all non-US forces?

Besides, Hussein was everybody's boy (including our own) in neutralizing the Iranians. There were very solid, specific reasons we (and everyone else) intended to leave him in place.

Bush Sr. had the brains to pursue a geopolitically sound strategy and stick to it.

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Vanguard
Banqiao Dam

I repeat: 1 meter of water in a day. 1 meter of water in a day.

We got 40cm in two weeks here and some of the smaller dams were in danger.

When I read the wiki on it that jumped out at me. It was a once-in-2000 years flood, caused by absolutely incredible amounts of rain.

There may have been flaws in the design of the dams, but, well, DAMN.

-Arrian

[Patroklos]

You honestly believe Iraqis would have blown up dams when the majority of their population lived in the flood planes of those dams?

Actually there are probably some fanatic Iraqis that would, they were not who I was talking about though.

And how exactly would we have done that

There were plenty of opportunities to get rid of him with limited collateral damage from 91-03.

In fact, immediately after 91 I bet we could have turned quite a few people with access to him given the right incentives.

Demanding unconditional surrender always makes such negotiations hard though What a useless invention of the 20th century

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Oerdin
You honestly believe Iraqis would have blown up dams when the majority of their population lived in the flood planes of those dams? There is no way in hell they would have done that. Though they would rush the building of those dams and not done the job properly if there was enough pressure from above.

I'm sure the Kurds are there with you in that thought.
"Wipe us all out? Never."

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Vanguard
Banqiao Dam

I repeat: 1 meter of water in a day. 1 meter of water in a day.

We got 40cm in two weeks here and some of the smaller dams were in danger.

Because of a similar storm, there are some enormous flood control levees and diverters around Buena Vista, VA. (That's pronounced "Boona Vista" in true 18th/19th century fashion.) We went over this briefly in an engineering class 20+ years ago and this is what I recall from that.

The US Corps of Engineers is required to design and construct for flood of record if greater than the standard flood. About 35-40 years ago the community experienced a rainfall in excess of 36 inches in 24 hours.

It's rather difficult to be certain because back then rain guages were simple tubes that would overflow. They had to canvas the area to find trash cans and other deep containers that were reliably known to be empty before the rain.

The CoE estimated the rainfall was a 5k-year or 10k-year event or some such. What's more, the rainfall was only in a small area around the town, but they had to apply the flood-of-record rule in the entire flood control district.