Big news about the Herbert Hoover Dike...

I came across a must read article in News-Press.com. Living in Florida we are warned daily of environmental threats to our way of life. These include effects from climate change, rising sea levels, saltwater infiltration of our drinking water wells, diminishing natural habitat, over-development and on and on it goes. We hear this regularly from experts at the Sierra Club, the 1000 Friends of Florida, the South Florida Wildlands Assoc., and thousands of others warning of dire consequences if we don't ACT NOW on one particular matter or another. And for the most part they are right. But they tend to overlook a developing hazard.

In the following excerpts from the article, you'll read some truly disturbing news about the Herbert Hoover Dike. That dike is what keeps Lake Okeechobee contained. Hopefully this news will cut through the din of environmentalist gloom and doom and focus on the immediate threat to our way of life in South Florida. According to The Army Corps of Engineers, Lloyd's of London, the South Florida Water Management District, Florida International University's International Hurricane Research Center, and many others the most immediate threat is the collapse of the Herbert Hoover Dike.

Two excerpts from the article by Chad Gillis:

Thousands dead. Billions of dollars in damages. Years of rebuilding. Irreversible damages to the Everglades and drinking water aquifers.
It may sound like a trailer for a sci-fi movie, but those phrases were taken from state and federal agency reports, university findings and insurance risk assessments to describe the Herbert Hoover Dike, a 143-mile earthen dam that's been eroding for the last half century.

[And later in the article]

The report [from Florida International University's International Hurricane Research Center] goes on to say that making the dike truly safe would likely cost more than the Army Corps of Engineers entire budget for projects across the nation, which was $4.7 billion in 2013. Billions of dollars in Everglades restoration could be lost in one event, which could also damage drinking water aquifers and cause irreversible harm to Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.
It's not just engineers and nearby residents who are concerned. Lloyd's of London issued a firm warning to companies that insure homes and property in South Florida.
"The dike was built from uncompacted earth, made up of naturally porous materials such as peat, gravel, sand and shell and is therefore prone to leaks," Lloyd's forecasters wrote. "Since the construction of the dike, the land outside of the dike has been eroding, particularly on the south side of the lake."
Willadson said the threats are real, and that the Corps works with other federal agencies to plan for worst-cast scenarios — which would likely be a major hurricane hitting Okeechobee.
"I know there's higher level of coordination, because we do have issues with regards to a breach," he said. "Damages would be rather significant."