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An 800-Pound Gorilla Waits to Escape in S. Florida
Paul Dixon, who lives nearby, strolls through an eroded portion of the 25-foot-high dike that extends for 140 miles around Lake Okeechobee.
(By Allen Eyestone -- Palm Beach Post Via Associated Press)
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On one side lies Lake Okeechobee, which covers about 730 square miles. It is prized for bass fishing.
On the land side stand houses and trailers, some still wrapped in the blue tarp used to cover roofs after Hurricane Wilma, and fields rising from the rich black dirt that gives this city its motto: "Her Soil Is Her Fortune."
As in the other communities near the lake, Belle Glade's population of 15,000 is predominantly black and relatively poor. The median household income in the 2000 census was $22,715.
Preventing these communities from being overwhelmed by Lake Okeechobee is the Herbert Hoover Dike, which was constructed of gravel, rock, limestone sand and shell dredged from the lake bottom. Much of it was built in the 1930s.
It leaks.
Portions of the dike "bear a striking resemblance to Swiss cheese," according to the engineers' report, which extensively cites Army Corps of Engineers documents.
Those gaps and seepages of lake water lead to erosion in the dike and potentially, disaster.
Representatives of the Corps of Engineers have disputed aspects of the report, but also said that much of it only reiterates previously known findings about vulnerabilities.
"We were not surprised by the findings and we are in total agreement that Herbert Hoover Dike is in need of rehabilitation" according to a Corps statement.
The Corps has undertaken a $300 million repair project, but it depends upon continued congressional funding and may not be completed for 20 years.
Where the Corps of Engineers and the independent engineers differ is on the likelihood of disaster. Corps officials reject the idea that the dike has a 1 in 6 annual chance of failure because the Corps corrects the small erosion episodes before they can turn into catastrophic gaps.
"We always have rocks and sandbags stockpiled on site," Corps spokeswoman Nanciann Regalado said. "And we use them when necessary."
Exactly how strong the dike is -- and what kind of hurricane could blow a hole in it -- is not precisely known.
Part of the problem is that the answer depends upon water levels in the lake; the higher the water, the higher the pressure and the more vulnerable the dike.
The Corps tries to keep water levels relatively low during hurricane season, but it cannot go too low: Lake Okeechobee is a source of water for South Florida residents, local farms and the Everglades.
When it rains, the water enters the lake many times faster than it can be let out through canals. At least twice since 1995, lake levels have risen to 18 feet, a level that creates strong outward pressures on the dike.
"At that point, we would be concerned about any hurricane," Regalado said. "We'd be foolish not to."
