Not Left Out, But Twisted Around

Since my last post "What's Left Out, Again", I contacted a newsroom about the dam's true height. This is what was emailed to me:


from Newsroom Apr 10
to raritthaler@gmail.com

date Apr 10, 2007 8:25 AM

subject RE: Contact KRIS Communications - Complaint

mailed-by kristv.com

Press Release

Date: April 6, 2007 Contact: PA1 Adam Eggers(832) 293-1304

COAST GUARD RESCUES 4 AFTER BOAT GOES OVER DAM

HOUSTON - The Coast Guard rescued four people from the Colorado River after their boat went over a dam in Bay City, Texas, early tonight.

A Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston watchstander received a call from the Matagorda County Sheriff's Office requesting assistance to help save two people in the water after their boat went over a dam and became wedged near the bottom. It was later discovered that the boat also had two children onboard.

Coast Guard Air Station Houston launched a rescue helicopter and lowered their rescue swimmer into the rushing water. The swimmer spotted and rescued a 5-year-old and a 7-year-old boy. The pair were flown to a nearby golf course where emergency medical technicians were standing by. The helicopter flew back out over the submerged boat, this time hoisting the two adult men. One boy and one adult were immediately flown to the hospital by a medical evacuation helicopter.

The dam is 150 feet high.

Video footage of the rescue is available at the military security gate on Ellington Field.
###

Not being content with the response, I emailed the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority). I figured the LCRA should know a few things about its own dam. This is what I was emailed:


Hello, Roger. The news story gave incorrect measurements for the dam. Seems they mistook the width for the height.

The Bay City Dam is in fact 227'6" wide from inside to inside of the abutments. The height is 16' 5" from the floor of the dam to the top of the abutments. It is 14'0" from the floor of the dam to the bottom of the stilling basin. I hope this will help with answering the questions you had. Also, please let me know if this is the information you were wanting. Because your e-mail came in to our open records request mailbox, I need to make sure you have gotten what you need from us so we can avoid going through the entire official open records request process. Thanks and have a great day.

-Krista

Krista Umscheid
Lower Colorado River Authority
Spokesperson/Senior Communications Specialist

Office: (512) 473-3365
or 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 3365
*******************************************************************

It's still a bit murky to me, but at least we all now know that the dam is NOT 150 feet high. I emailed kristv.com back and told them they need to check their "facts" better. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? I didn't even have to get out of my chair.

What’s Left Out, Again

Friday it was reported that four boaters (two adults and two boys) went over a 150-foot dam on the Colorado River near Bay City, TX. The implication to most people – especially from the video on TV – was that the fall was 150 feet. I wondered why the injuries were so slight. I didn’t think the elevation by Bay City could be that high. Turns out, Bay City is at about 50 feet elevation. For a dam to be 150 feet high there, the poor Colorado River would be backed up for – well, I can’t do the math.

Today it was reported that the dam was 20 feet high. (Apparently it is 150 feet wide.) That’s still quite a fall, but still doable, as evidenced by the outcome. Of course, now they’re trying to eliminate accountability for the adults by suggesting that they “lost control.” Duh! They got too close to the dam. It seems that the media used some more of their HYPE. The lesson is (as Peter McWilliams said, there is a lesson in everything): Be skeptical – very skeptical – with what the media “reports.”