Two Dams Fail in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

摘要

A heavy storm pounded Michigan's Upper Peninsula in mid-May, dropping about 4 in. (100 mm) of rain over a 24-hour period in the watershed surrounding the rural city of Marquette, located on the coast of Lake Superior. West of the city, water coursing toward the lake in the Dead River swelled against several dams in a muddy rage. The structures had all been designed to handle a storm of this magnitude and greater, but James Pawloski, a dam safety engineer for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, nevertheless drove to the area on May 14 to assess the situation.