Table 1: Historic dam failures in the US
Toccoa Falls, Georgia 5 November 1977 Kelly Barnes dam failed, killing 39 students and college staff and causing about US$2.5M in damages. |
Laurel Run, Pennsylvania 19-20 July 1977 Laurel Run dam failed, killing over 40 people and causing US$5.3M in damages. |
Teton, Idaho 5 June 1976 Eleven people perished when Teton dam failed. The failure caused an unprecedented amount of property damage totalling more than US$1B. |
Rapid City, South Dakota 9 June 1972 The Canyon Lake dam failure took an undetermined number of lives (estimates range from 33 to 237). Damages, including destruction of 1335 homes, totalled more than US$60M. |
Buffalo Creek Valley, West Virginia 26 February 1972 The failure of a coal-waste impoundment at the valleys head took 125 lives, and caused more than US$400M in damages, including destruction of over 500 homes. |
Los Angeles, California December 1963 The failure of Baldwin Hills Dam killed 5 people, destroyed 41 homes, and damaged over 1000 homes and apartment buildings. |
San Francisquito Canyon, California 19-20 March 1928 The St. Francis dam failure killed over 450 people and destroyed 10 bridges and more than 1200 homes. |
Johnstown, Pennsylvania 31 May 1889 The city of Johnstown was devastated, and 2209 people were killed following the failure of South Fork dam, located nine miles upstream. |
Williamsburg, Massachusetts 16 May 1874 The Mill River dam failure killed 139 people, and destroyed a number of factories, as well as more than 700 homes in Williamsburg, Leeds, Skinnerville, and Haydenville. |
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