Reply #56: Reservoir breach in S.E. Missouri prompts evacuation, washes away homes

[Thom Little]

About a billion gallons of water poured through a breach at a hydroelectric plant's reservoir in rural southeast Missouri this morning, washing away an unknown number of homes and vehicles, and critically injuring three children, authorities said.

The early morning breach occurred in the upper of two reservoirs at the hydroelectric plant run by St. Louis-based utility AmerenUE, company officials said. One person had been feared missing, but was later accounted for, authorities said.

Gov. Matt Blunt said three or four family members were hospitalized after water swamped their home at a state park where the father is superintendent.

Three children with critical injuries were being transported to a hospital in St. Louis, 120 miles to the northeast. A spokesman for Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital did not have the names of the children and could not confirm if they were related to the park superintendent. He said a 7-month-old suffered from hypothermia, and a 3-year-old and 5-year-old had breathing problems.


http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/NEWS01/51214002