Dam fails in Puerto Rico, 70,000 told to evacuate
SAN JUAN: Some 70,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes after a rain-swollen dam in Puerto Rico failed in the latest disaster caused by Hurricane Maria, which was on Saturday expected to head into open waters.
With the storm death toll standing at 33 across the Caribbean, Puerto Rico’s National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for people living along the Guajataca River in the northwest of the island, saying an earthen dam there was in danger of collapsing.
“All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER!,” the NWS tweeted on Friday, saying flooding had already begun downstream.
Governor Ricardo Rossello also issued an order for 70,000 people living in the area to flee.
Public safety chief Hector Pesquera said a drain which normally releases water from the dam in a controlled fashion had stopped working, the El Vocero daily reported. Footage from WeatherNation TV showed water gushing down a ramp-style conduit, washing away huge chunks of soil from the grassy green slopes of the dam.
Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2017