Bhava Nath Temple Case

Case Study —Sebring County

Instructions: Read the following case study. As you read, try to identify what

decisions must be made by the emergency manager or other emergency

management officials. Jot down your ideas before continuing.

Background: Heavy rainstorms have hit, and counties across the entire State are faced with

flash flooding to varying degrees. The town of Westfield - located in Sebring County, one of

the hardest hit counties in the State-sits high and well away from the river, so flooding is

usually not a concern. Last year, a new spillway was built to increase the capacity of the town

reservoir to about 44 million gallons. Two towns downstream, Ambry and Gilson, are less than

a 5-minute drive from Westfield. Each town has about 2400 residents, most of them along U.S.

Route 270.

Event chronology:

Late afternoon Rain begins, and weather forecasters predict it will be a strong, slow-moving

storm, which will produce heavy rain.

7:41 p.m ----. A flash flood watch is issued by the National Weather Service.

8:00 p.m.----- Heavy rains begin.

9:30 p.m.----- The county engineer stations an employee on the dam to watch for and report any problems. The employee sees water pouring a good 2 feet over the spillway. (It was later estimated that the reservoir was holding 65 million gallons during and after the storm.)

11:00 p.m.---- 13cms of rain have fallen over the last 3 hours.

12:30 a.m----. The employee sees a section of dirt break away.

1:00 a.m-------. When water recedes below the top of the dam, county employees discover that water has eaten around the spillway and is gradually carving away the side of the earthen dam. A first attempt at closing the hole with sandbags fails when the force of the water carries the bags right through.

1:30 a.m. ------The Sebring County Emergency Program Manager is now meeting with the mayor of Westfield, the county engineer, the public works director, the fire chief, and the police chief to...