Dunbar Catastrophe

[albud1962]

Major flood disaster at Dunbar Creek. The popular jack dam was destroyed and the others suffered major damage. Several people lost their lives in the flooding. The town of Dunbar was hit by a wall of water 12' high.

 

[salvelinus]

Wow, I didn't see anything on the news about this. Which surprises me, knowing the media.

 

[Acristickid]

Well that stinks. I used to fish there several times a year. Last year I had a very pleasant day there. Hope it bounces back.

 

[greenghost]

I saw the news and figured the streambed would be scoured, re-channeled and changed in many locations. Nature is resilient and I am sure it will rebound. Who knows, it could even become better for angling. I might visit this weekend just to check it out. Thanks for the heads up albud.

 

[geebee]

contact the local TU, make sure its on their Radar.

the dam removal, breaches might be a good thing for the fishing long term.

 

[troutbert]

Albud,

What conservation issues do you think this raises?

To me it brings up the issue of what ways are best to improve physical habitat, especially "holding water" i.e. pools and cover, in streams that have very shallow habitat because of man-made alterations to the stream/floodplain system, that can withstand floods.

The photo of the jack dam indicates that it did form a very nice pool. But it got blown out by the flood. It's not an isolated situation. These habitat structures get blown out all the time.

You can see the remains of the destroyed structures on many streams. And sometimes they are totally swept away, with no trace left behind.

Big floods have always happened, and will continue to happen. So, what to do?

How can you improve holding water in a way that will survive a big flood? And hopefully not cost a fortune?

 

[McSneek]

"Several people lost their lives" - not to diminish the loss of any life but I read of one fatality when a person unknowingly drove into a washed out culvert. Haven't found information on any more.

"wall of water 12' high" - I've seen no reports of a wall of water 12' high. That would be absolutely devastating to structures. I don't think that was the case.

Anyone have a link or source that speaks to multiple deaths and a 12' high wall of water?

 

[Chaz]

Man made in-stream structures always have a tenuous lifespan when it comes to flooding. There is no answer to the problem of floods. A good forested buffer that allows the stream to spill into the floodplain is far better at keeping perceived damage to a minimum than man made structure. However there are times when the man made stuff is what we must go with to prevent damage to buildings and bridges unless or until the buildings are moved out of the floodplain, and the bridges are built to span the floodplain which is a part of the river or stream.

 

[tomgamber]

anyone from within 100 miles of Dunbar want to chime in? I live a half hour away and read the daily. Never heard of any of this.

 

[turkey]

I also never heard of this. I didn't realize so much rain fell.

 

[albud1962]

There were two big floods that occurred on Dunbar this year. The one at the end of August was by far the largest. There were a few news accounts but national events were the focus during this time. The scour on the gas line shows how far the water reached. This is a good 8 to 9 feet above the stream bottom, maybe even more.

Troutbert, personally I would like to see habitat structures instead of a big bath tub that the herons and poachers were using as a smorgasbord. There was a habitat assessment report prepared that described potential improvements. A link may be found on the Chestnut Ridge TU facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ChestnutRidgeTU

 

[albud1962]

Some positive news. I was able to get a meeting set up with the Conservation District and Texas Eastern to discus the exposed bank that resulted from the flood. Hopefully we can get this section stabilized.

 

[bprush]

I fish it all the time. Always saw the pools below the jack dams as spots for poachers. There are plenty of trout elsewhere in the stream.

 

[skybay]

So sorry about Dunbar situation, I will further investigate this