Latest news with #dam
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Body found in search for girl, 13, who plunged into reservoir dam in front of her horrified father while snapping a photograph
A body has been found in the search for a missing girl who plunged into a reservoir dam in front of her father.
The Sun
28-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Major search underway after girl falls into huge dam lake as cops launch hunt and begin underwater searches
AN UGRENT search has been launched after a girl fell into a dam lake this afternoon. The youngster, whose age has not yet been confirmed, vanished under the water at Baitings Dam, near Ripponden, in West Yorkshire. 5 5 Emergency services were called to the reservoir at around 1.20pm. They remain at the scene this evening conducting under water searches. Four West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue crews are also at the dam, assisted by Littleborough crew. And, Yorkshire Ambulance Service confirmed they sent officers from their Hazardous Area Response Team. A police spokesperson said: "Shortly after 1.17pm this afternoon police were called to a report a girl had fallen into water at Baitings Dam near Ripponden. "Emergency services are currently on the scene, with searches ongoing to locate the girl. "Anyone who has any information which could assist ongoing searches is asked to contact Calderdale District Police online at or by calling 101 referencing police log 797 of today." 5 5 is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
A fatal flood prompted Kaufman County dam repairs. Then, the federal government froze funding.
The rain that fell in October 2023 inundated Kaufman County. It was still dark when 23-year-old Angel McKnight took off to check on loved ones. The water had reached the top of a bridge along FM1390, and as she drove across it, a passing car sent a wave of water crashing toward her, sweeping her off the road. She called her aunt, Joy Collins. "She called me Mama. 'Mama, I'm stuck in a ditch,' and she asked me about a tow truck," said Joy Collins. "I told her, 'Baby, if you're stuck, get off the phone with me and call 911.'" That 911 call captured McKnight's final moments. "Okay, I'm trying to get out of the car. It's quite literally filling up as we speak… yeah, filling up…" she can be heard saying before the call abruptly disconnects. Her car had fallen into 12' high flood waters rushing through the hidden underpass below the bridge. She was one of two drivers who died in the floods that morning. Family members said it took nearly 12 hours to find her body. "I can't imagine the fear that she went through by herself,' said Joy Collins. Six months later, Kaufman County began work to replace a nearby dam. Rated "high hazard" by the state, the dam had been overwhelmed by the torrential rain and failed to hold back the flooding that claimed two lives that October. The $14 million renovation, though, is more than Kaufman County can afford, which is why it relies on federal and state funding. The US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service agreed to reimburse the county for 65% of the cost. The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board agreed to cover the remaining 35%. In February, though, as work was already well underway, the NRCS announced it was suddenly "unable to make payments." The funding, it seems, had become a political target of the new White House administration. Money for the dam renovation had come from the $1 trillion authorized by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a key piece of President Biden's domestic agenda. Trump administration pauses funds On President Trump's first day in office, he signed an executive order to "immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through… the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." "I thought maybe for a month or two they'd stop the payments, review and see that this is a critical infrastructure project, and then start back up," said Kaufman County Emergency Management Director Steve Howie. For months, he said, the state stepped in to cover the difference. By April, though, the TSSWCB reported it was owed $4,256,998 after it said the federal government "simply stopped paying the bills" for various infrastructure projects. It notified Kaufman County that if there was no resolution by May 31, it would need to find "other sources of funding" or "shut down the construction". "I'm thinking, this is nuts. They're putting people's lives in danger, and we can't be doing that," said Howie. Howie said the county would never have begun construction if it didn't think it had the funding secured to get the job done. "It's more dangerous now because literally the dam that was in place, even though it was high hazard, was not in any imminent state of breach," said Howie. "If we get into the heavy rainfall where we get six or more inches, this thing could overtop and going downstream that way, there's about 75 homes, between 125 and 160 people whose lives will be in danger." In mid-April, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to resume payments, and by early May, the state told us reimbursements had begun. Howie still worries that the funding could be jeopardized by federal spending cuts. The White House recently released a proposed budget that, among other things, calls for cancelling over $15 billion in what it calls "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act green new scam funds." "While I don't disagree with what they're trying to do to eliminate fraud and waste, they're not looking at the trickle down and what it's doing to the local jurisdictions," said Howie. "It seems like we're fighting an endless battle," said Joy Collins. "Something needs to happen so that nobody else loses their mother, father, brother, sister," Jamie Collins, McKnight's mother and Joy Collins' twin sister, said just after McKnight's death. Jamie Collins had terminal cancer and died last December, having spent the last year of her life looking for ways to improve FM1390. "Jamie was trying to get this safe for other people. Of course, it hurt her. That was her only daughter. She just did the best she could. In pain all the time," said younger sister, Danna Williams. The sisters still hope to see the problem resolved and said there's no sense withholding funds for a project that could save lives. "I hope nothing like this happens to your family member because of ignorance like this," said Joy Collins.
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Singapore Airlines turbulence 1 year on, China pushes Pakistan dam: SCMP's 7 highlights
We have selected seven stories from this week's news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing China has said it was accelerating work on a 'flagship' dam in Pakistan in the wake of India's recent threats to cut off water supplies. The HAL Prachand is an Indian multi-role light attack helicopter designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under Project Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). Photo: Handout India's new Prachand combat helicopter would be 'a walkover' for China's Z-10 attack counterpart, a Chinese military magazine has claimed, dismissing the aircraft New Delhi might use in high-altitude operations against its neighbours.
Al Jazeera
21-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Photos: Local communities vow to fight new Panama Canal reservoir
Magdalena Martinez has spent her entire life along the banks of the Indio River, but a proposed dam intended to shield the Panama Canal from drought now threatens to engulf her home. The 49-year-old is among hundreds of residents opposing an artificial lake that would feed the crucial interoceanic waterway. 'I feel sick about this threat we're facing,' said Martinez, who lives in a wooden house with a metal roof in Boca de Uracillo with her husband and five of her 13 children. 'We don't know where we're going to go.' Martinez's family has always lived in the small village surrounded by lush mountains, where locals depend on farming crops such as cassava and maize and raising livestock for their livelihoods. The community insists it will not allow its homes to be sacrificed for the benefit of the world's multibillion-dollar global shipping industry. Last week, hundreds of villagers took to the Indio River in motorised canoes to protest against the planned dam, which would force thousands of families to relocate. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the autonomous public body managing the waterway, decided to construct the reservoir to address severe droughts like the one in 2023, which led to drastic cuts in ship traffic. The century-old canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, relies on formerly abundant rainfall stored in two artificial lakes that also provide drinking water. Used predominantly by shipping clients from the United States, China and Japan, the canal operates a lock system to lift and lower vessels, releasing millions of litres of fresh water with each transit. The proposed reservoir, spanning approximately 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres), would deliver water through a nine-kilometre (5.6-mile) tunnel to one of the existing lakes. The project 'meets a need identified a long time ago: it's the water of the future,' said Karina Vergara, an environmental and social manager at the ACP. Work on the reservoir is expected to begin in 2027 and finish by 2032, with an estimated investment of $1.6bn. Of that sum, $400m is allocated for compensation and relocation of about 2,500 people from various villages. 'We have a firm commitment to dialogue and reaching agreements' with those affected, Vergara said. If the reservoir is not built, 'we'll regret it in 15 years,' she said. Civil society groups warn that as many as 12,000 people could ultimately be affected by the project, which enjoys the support of President Jose Raul Mulino, as the entire Indio River basin would be affected. The 80-kilometre-long Panama Canal handles six percent of global maritime trade and remains vital to Panama's economy. It is also at the centre of a diplomatic row, as former US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to 'take back' the waterway, handed over to Panama in 1999, citing alleged Chinese influence.
