2-11-2012-dover dam flood of january 2005
part1

      dover dam  was dedicated in 1937 . it is located on the tuscarawas river about 4 mi. north of dover , ohio , on state route 800. it is a dry dam meaning it is only used to store water when runoff from storms require extra storage space to alleviate downstream flooding . the elevation of the spillway is 916 feet and that is this center section . they call this the ogee spillway configuration . i guess because when it gets to this point you say oh gee its all going to fail, and reports are it happened sooner at a lower level prompting major concern and low level flooding downstream and overall general management practices that do not permit a pool of water to sit there as long before it hit its historic peak level of  907.4 feet out of 916 feet it needed to overflow the spillway . relentless  rainy weather and saturated ground led to the historic January pool level behind dover dam . concerns over another structure also owned by the u.s. army corps of engineers at bolivar ohio , an earthen dam was failing due to migration of water and sediment through the dam face.

      this led to an immediate release of water from bolivar dam into the pool at dover dam ,substantially increasing the pool level behind dover dam. not quite sure what the previous pool level was but it wasn't close to where they were at in January of 2005 . Dover Dam General History - USACE Huntington District- more information can be obtained by reading this link. the above pic is behind the dam at low river level in summer when it is considered dry and no water is impounded. people living downstream were advised to vacate their premises as an event occurred that has not officially been recognized but has been alluded to.

     at that point where the largest surge of water was behind the dam and as they were draining bolivar dam , reports are that dover dam breached its foundation and slid six inches raising fears of a major catastrophe occuring at the dam. fears that the dam would slide even farther and that a recently discovered fault may play a part in the total destruction of the dam. i was on the up stream side and basically isolated at my trailer as the water impeded my ability to leave the trailer for days. but was kept abreast of news reports coming out of area as suddenly our area was thrown into the spot light. what i am going to do in this and next couple of day's blogs is relive those days of isolation i experienced and my thoughts about the whole situation. including my opinions as to whether we should be spending any money on dams of this size capable of mass destruction . it is a time bomb if not adequately maintained. as other parts of the country have the same experience in their part of the world.  the lower pic is of my dog zoey playing in the back water behind dover dam as the water is rising . the upper pic is a pic of my nephews car sticking out of water in front of my brothers house in mineral city oh. this also was when water was climbing.

     i was able to get in and out for the most part as frohman hill rd remained open for some time allowing local traffic a way to get to their houses until the water rose over their streets blocking their access. the top picture is looking north on state route 800 towards zoarville before the bridge as water climbed over the bridge blocking access to zoarville severely curtailing traffic on state route 800 . this is after bolivar dam was reported to have problems requiring its pool to be lowered for safety reasons. the bottom pic is at frohman hill rd. and st rt. 800 looking at our farm . normally this is a bottom area of exposed land thirty feet down . and it is the same on both sides of the road. it was on this side i was now required to park my truck as water level increased to levels higher than i had ever experienced.
        i was born and brought back to this farm and was raised on this and our other farm and have had a connection to both places all my life. never had i seen water like this before in my life. i am 56 years old .
     my dad had experienced some health problems and that required him to be removed by ambulance to a hospital . emergency services really get screwed up as water rises and shuts roads off. pre-determined areas of responsibility to citizens is suddenly put in jeopardy. we had called the local ambulance to assist in taking him to the hospital. the local fire department was unable to get to us as now they had to circumnavigate the pool of water to reach us. so they called for assistance from nearby mineral city. mineral city was blocked to the south by high water on st rt. 800 . and from our farm south to dover dam was blocked by high water . leaving frohman hill rd. the only option for safe removal of my dad.

     well mineral city decided to chance driving through the water after their boat failed for some reason as motor wouldnt start. and at one point a helicopter was also mentioned as a possible evacuation vehicle . but it was mineral city to the rescue as they drove their pumper thorugh fender high water plowing through the waves of uncertainty to reach us. and soon they were evacuating dad on a chair and placing him in the passenger seat of the truck. i informed them that they could exit over the hill though frohman road but they insisted to again drive through the water to waiting ambulances at dover dam. from their they drove south to dover and then north to canton almost 50 miles to get to a hospital 20 miles away.
      well all in all he did make it out and it took a while. he had heart trouble and recently had a stint placed in his chest so i was glad to see them respond. a better coordination of emergency effort is required to safely help those residents impacted by raising waters as we go along. dover could have easily drove the 3 miles north and never would have to drive through high water and place firefighters lives and my dad in jeopardy. planning on all levels is required to assure fire protection is maintained as well as all emergency processes is required . a study by the local 911 disaster coordinator and corps of engineers is required to notify all groups of people when fire services should change to those best suited to respond . nothing would be more frustrating than to sit and watch your house burn as suddenly this man made temporary lake prevents firefighters from getting to your property . they were advising you to leave . but who wants to leave the comfort of a house you know is above flood water and is your home to go to a shelter and share space with others. there was a lot that stayed in their homes.
       the last thing i am going to talk about in part one of this saga is the round bales above floating. a 1000 lb round bale is actually floating in the water. the only reason i can account for that is the air trapped in the stems was sufficient to give he bale buoyancy to float. really didn't mind losing the bales and learned that wasn't the best place to store them . but  these floating bales were perplexing to say the least as they floated all over this area and close to the culvert that drains this bottom under st. rt 800. could just imagine them floating into the culvert or being pulled into it by currents as the released the water through the dam . sometimes as fast as it goes up it comes down again. so i really didn't know what to expect . plugging up the culvert would essentially make the road a dam . and all i could see was dollar signs as machines would be required to remove the bales . but it is nice to know in case suddenly you need a life raft and all around you is round bales . just hop on and go for a ride. tomorrow is part 2.