“Dams are considered ‘installations containing dangerous forces’ under International Humanitarian Law due to the massive impact of a possible destruction on the civilian population and the environment. Dam failures are comparatively rare, but can cause immense damage and loss of life when they occur.” (1*) In 1975, in Zhumadian, China, Banqiao Dam collapsed leading to 171,000 fatalities and 11 million without homes. This dam breakage caused more fatalities than ever before in dam breakage history. The dam broke due to “extreme rainfall, beyond the planned design capability of the dam, dumped on China by Typhoon Nina.” Dams are unpredictable no matter what you do because in reality, mother nature has the control over what happens. Collapsing dams can destroy entire towns, kill thousands of people and have huge impacts on the environment.
In the case of the Banqiao Dam, it costs 171,000 people their lives and 11 million people without anywhere to live. As soon as the dam started to collapse, the town of Daowencheng was soon taken out and all 9,600 citizens killed. (2*) Banqiao Dam wasn’t the only failed dam this day. “61 other dams and reservoirs also failed that day as a result of the typhoon and the ensuing floods, including the second largest dam in the flood-prevention system.” No matter how large or how sturdy the dam you build is, nothing can compare to mother nature. She has a mind of her own and when she’s upset, people get killed and towns get taken out. Typhoon Nina caused a total of 62 dams to collapse that day and because of that, it took a lot when the time came to rebuild these dams. Not all the dams that were destroyed that day were rebuilt, but many of them were. “The equivalent of 280,000 Olympic-sized pools burst through the crumbling dam.” (3*) After the dam collapsed, it “spread over more than 2.5 million acres of farm land throughout 29 counties and municipalities. The people in the flooded areas who survived were trapped and without food for many days. Many of them also got very sick from the contaminated water.” (4*) In order to build the dams again years later, they would have to clear out all the debris, bodies, etc. In conclusion, although it is rare with today’s technology and advances in dam building, when dams break, it can be very severe; it can be fatal and leave thousands without homes. We need to make sure when we are building dams that everything is done exactly how it needs to be done or you and your family could be the next victims of a collapsed dam. *Sources: 1. “Dam failure.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam_failure. 2. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Typhoon Nina–Banqiao dam failure.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 4 July 2014, www.britannica.com/event/Typhoon-Nina-Banqiao-dam-failure. 3. “The Forgotten Legacy of the Banqiao Dam Collapse.” International Rivers, www.internationalrivers.org/resources/the-forgotten-legacy-of-the-banqiao-dam-collapse-7821. 4. The Catastrophic Dam Failures in China in August 1975, www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/aug1975.htm.)
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