Okeechobee’s Herbert Hoover Dike: An Accident Waiting to Happen
Imagine people sitting in their homes, hearing a thunderous rushing sound, and feeling the floor beneath their feet lifted from foundations. Or watching as flood waters force themselves inside as the residents cling to roofs? In 1926, and again in 1928, these scenarios happened all around Lake Okeechobee. Several thousand people died (Pfost). If the current dike around Lake Okeechobee is not extensively repaired or replaced, the area will flood again. It is no longer a question of if the dike fails, but when it does.
The Dike’s History Lake Okeechobee is approximately 730 square miles and is critical to South Florida’s water needs and to the Everglades (Bromwell, Dean, & Vick 3). Much of its importance is derived from its proximity to farms, ranches, and surrounding small communities. Besides being dependent on the water, the communities also depend on the lake’s dike to keep residents safe from flooding. This is especially important because the area’s population has increased dramatically since the dike’s construction began. A dike failure now would be more extensive than in 1928, and it would cause “tens of billions of dollars” in property damage (Herbert Hoover 18). …show more content…
In fact, they have spent more than 300 million on projects and repairs since 2007 (About). One project is to build an embedded or cutoff wall outside the dike’s wall that will retain seepage and extend the dike’s life (Fortner). However, Brown points out the same report Fortner cites also has concerns whether the project will work because the cutoff wall “is neither deep enough to halt all piping nor high enough to prevent overtopping” (20). The COE even admits the Herbert Hoover Dike is a failure risk, saying that without their continued efforts, the dike has a one in six chance of failing in any given year (qtd. in Herbert Hoover