31. Communications Failures Led to Disaster
The Banqiao Dam disaster could have been averted if not for incompetence and poor communications. On August 6th, 1975, with water levels rising in its reservoir because of Typhoon Nina, Banqiao’s officials requested authority to open the dam to relieve the pressure. They were turned down because of ongoing flooding downstream. The request was finally accepted the following day, the 7th, but the telegram failed to reach Banqiao.
In the early hours of August 8th, the water crested a foot above the dam’s wave protection wall, and it collapsed. It was one of 62 dams that collapsed because of Typhoon Nina, releasing nearly 16 billion cubic meters of water. The result was a wave 6.2 miles wide and 10 – 23 feet high, that rushed downstream at 31 miles an hour. It left a swath of devastation 9.3 miles wide and 34 miles long.