Heavy rains cause lake to flood, concerns over dam
By Matt Grant
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 10:45 p.m.
Read more: Local, Renn's Lake, Dam, Cole County
COLE COUNTY -- Thursday's rain caused extensive flooding and pushed the dam at Renn's Lake in Cole County to the breaking point.
"If you had a catastrophic failure, there's a lot of water stored behind this dam," said Larry Benz with Cole County Public Works.
He said the water "could have possibly" spilled over onto Highway 54.
The earthen-structure at Renn's Lake didn't overflow Thursday but officials were afraid the dirt-dam would cave in. The privately owned dam is over 50 years old, according to Benz.
Emergency crewsare working late into the night to pump as much water out as possible to ease the pressure. There are businesses and homes in the area.
Emergency workers have been there since 4 p.m. and are prepared to shut down Highway 54 if things get worse.
"We have notified MoDOT," said Benz. "Their crew's out monitoring the situation, too, in case something would happen we could be able to shut down [Highway] 54 relatively quick."
Emergency crews are using two 6-inch pumps, two siphons and a 10,000 gallon-per-minute pump to drain excess water from the lake. Officials say this is all a precautionary measure and that nearby residents aren't in danger.
As of 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Cody Drive, just off of Highway 54 is closed off. The Cole County sheriff is asking anyone in the area to use the Idelwood Road access instead.
