1. Flint Water Crisis 2. Hurricane Katrina 3. BP Oil Spill 4. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 5. Three Mile Island 6. St. Francis Dam 7. Picher Lead 8. Tennessee Ash Spill 9. Libby Asbestos 10. Dust Bowl
- St. Francis Dam Disaster
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- From 1924 through 1926 the St. Francis Dam was built and designed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for the regulation and storage of a reservoir for the city. Construction of the dam was headed by the department's Chief Engineer and General Manager, William Mulholland, yes, the guy for whom the famous road, Mulholland Drive, was named. Two years after the dam was finished, on March 12, 1928, it collapsed, causing a flood that killed at least 431 people in Santa Paula, California. The disaster ended Mulholland's career.
- The St. Francis Dam disaster remains the second greatest loss of life in California, second only to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is also considered one of the worst American civil engineering disasters.
- Photo source: AP Photo
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