A big story on the Internet is a home in Central texas getting burned to the ground
to keep it from falling into a lake. Now ordinarily, i'd say "Well, someone didn't
bother checking the flood plains and the city didn't have any regs, so, i hope they
can afford the loss". However, i did a little checking the house is newish from 2007
but it's next to one of the big drought story lakes in Texas.
This house overlooks Lake Whitney, and Texas has been in a drought for 6 years,
and lakes and rivers are going dry. It's amazing, really. So this cliff house which
had been 150 feet away from the lake suddenly had the cliff peel away and force
an emergency demolition.
http://ww3.hdnux.com/...
Okay the story
http://www.sfgate.com/...
WHITNEY, Texas (AP) — Fire crews have begun burning a luxury house that's teetering atop a crumbling 75-foot cliff over a Central Texas lake.
Authorities say destroying the 4,000-square-foot house by fire is better than waiting for it to topple into Lake Whitney. The cost of removing mounds of debris from the lake could prove prohibitive.
if you read other stories, the house was built 150 feet from the cliff edge,
had been inspected by a geologist and an engineer, and was fine until
a year ago when cracks started forming in the walls, and the house was condemned
for earth movement.
now what's interesting is the Texas drought
http://www.wacotrib.com/...
http://www.wacotrib.com/...
Drought has drained Lake Whitney close to a 40-year low, leaving beaches and boat ramps high and dry, and causing authorities to curtail its water releases.
The elevation of the popular lake Wednesday stood at 519.9 feet above sea level — more than 13 feet below its normal level. That’s less than an inch above the 40-year record set in 2009, and summer heat continues to evaporate up to half an inch from the lake each day.
now this was 3 years ago, the lake hit it's critical reserve level and stopped releasing water
http://www.wfaa.com/...
and as a result, the lake is attracting looters
LAKE WHITNEY - Sinking lake levels have exposed some of Hill County's hidden secrets.
Fossils and Native American tools from eight thousand years ago are easy to find at Lake Whitney, and looters are taking advantage.
They used to be buried in underwater caverns, but the drought has evaporated that protection.
and if you look at the lake stats, you see
http://www.waterdatafortexas.org/...
the lake is running at a 50 year low
of course the dam was put in 51 so, data before then is not useful,
https://en.wikipedia.org/..._(Texas)
1950s: In 1951, the lake was impounded. The dam's power plant was under construction from 1951 to 1953. After a record-breaking drought in Texas during the 1950s, there was an emphasis on reservoirs serving a secondary purpose, with the primary one being flood control, as water storage facilities for Texas residents, communities, businesses, agriculture, and others.
The drought that has been ongoing since 2006 now is starting water wars up
in texas
http://ecowatch.com/...
http://cabinonlakewhitney.com/...
Now this lake is according to local websites pretty deep so at least some of the
boat rentals are still running, but, I look at the ring marks and it doesn't
appear good.
I just have to wonder if this house was destroyed by climate change