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Sweetwater Dam failure close... San Diego County...
Sweetwater Dam failure close... San Diego County...
Item # 722720
January 18, 1916
EVENING TRIBUNE, San Diego, Jan. 18, 1916
* Lower Otay Reservoir dam failure close
* Great Southern California flood of 1916
* Best title to be had ? - rare as such
The front page has a nice banner headline: "BIG OTAY DAM TO OVERFLOW" with subhead. (see images) Nice for display. Surprisingly this issue is in good condition being from the "wood pulp" era. Very hard to find issues that are not totally fragile from this era in paper.
Complete with 12 pages, small library stamp within the masthead, a little irregular along the spine, generally very nice.
AI notes: The Lower Otay Reservoir dam failure occurred on January 27, 1916, south of San Diego, California, after an unusually intense rainy season caused the reservoir to overtop. The original rock-fill dam, unable to withstand the surge, suffered rapid erosion and a catastrophic breach, releasing approximately 40,000 acre-feet of water in a matter of hours. The resulting flood wave, reported as up to 20 feet high, swept down the Otay Valley, destroying homes, farms, roads, and bridges, and causing an estimated 30 fatalities. The disaster coincided with the controversial involvement of rainmaker Charles Hatfield, though the failure was ultimately deemed an “act of God.” In the aftermath, the dam was rebuilt as the more robust Savage Dam by 1918, and the catastrophe contributed to heightened awareness of dam safety and flood control measures in Southern California.
Category: The 20th Century
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