Miscommunication cited as cause of warning of dam breach in Nashville City Reservoir

NASHVILLE, Ill. (KFVS) – Heartland News is learning more about the flooding situation in Nashville, Illinois that forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service, 7 to 9 inches of rain fell in and around Nashville on Tuesday morning, July 16, causing the reservoir to fill and overflow.

“There is a second dam in the spillway, also called a backup. I was told it is basically a sandbar that was washed away when the water level was high enough. This allowed the water to drain away and take the pressure off the main dam,” said Alex Haglund.

Emergency alerts were initially issued Tuesday morning saying the dam had “broken,” causing panic among residents. However, the Washington County Emergency Management Agency told Heartland News that the public had been given incorrect information and that the dam had in fact done exactly what it was built to do.

“It was a terminological problem because that word kept getting passed around. Until we realized that failure was not the right term for it. I don’t know who said it first, but that’s how it was expressed in the first messages. Including the messages that the EMA and other first responders received,” Haglund explained.

According to the Washington County EMA, efforts are underway to determine where the communications line was interrupted and to develop a plan in case such an event occurs again in the future.

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