When you see a dam starting to break its VERY important that you stand next to it watching until the very last second. Only then should you run for your life.

I learned so much from this video. Particularly how urgent sounding drum beats can be heard whenever a dam collapses.

I love how polite they are to wait for the guard to lift the barrier as the water rises and rushes past them... Instead of you know... Just breaking the barrier and driving through.

Makes perfect sense to casually stand around and watch the failure starting then be surprised when you can’t outrun the water.

Big thanks to engineers for making this video possible. Edit: People have found some many other people to give big thanks also!

That wind gusting out of the tunnel may be one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen

Engineering Disasters on the History Channel is one of my favorite shows. I will never forget the oil drilling crew that was drilling for oil in a lake in Louisiana and accidentally punched a hole through the bottom of the lake into a salt mine below and the entire lake turned into a giant vortex. It was so powerful that just a 1” auger created a hole that would ultimately suck down the entire lake and it’s contents, including large fishing vessels. I bought the whole series because of the stuff I saw on that show.

I'm from Oroville, the Oroville Dam incident wasn't technically a Dam failure, though there was a failure to deduce that the rock underneath the Emergency Spillway was the same soft red rock that permeates the area for miles around. It was terrifying for those in my family who lived down river of the Lake, and for good reason. The weakening of the left embankment was setting up for an incident similar to the St Francis Dam. Watching these though, it's kind of scary how water turns solid ground into an unstable mess, and then just kind of slide under it. It always disturbs me to see any bit of ground moving like a liquid.

These just make you say, "Dam..."

I can't believe those guys just sat there and watched the Mariana dam fail and weren't running for their lives. It looked like it overwhelmed them.

Took a tour of the Hoover dam located between Arizona and Nevada. They took us to the bottom of the dam where we were 726 feet below the water and millions of tons of concrete and earth above our heads! Sobering thought! The forces exerted on the dam structure are incomprehensible but you know they are there and rhey are above you! Very intriguing!

The air coming out that tunnel was terrifying

The speed of the air being forced out of that tunnel in Columbia was insane! I wouldn't be surprised if it was pushing 250 km/h

The fact it happens so often that you are able to make a 15 minute compilation is mesmerizing to me

Supervisor: And you checked BOTH bolts? Me: yes 11:17

If I'm not mistaken the dam in Brazil was a mining dumping ground that held super toxic waste. The government was warned for like 10 years like "hey bud, that dam is not safe and could go anytime" governments response "it'll buff out"

The guy in the motor grader blocking the road was just a huge fail.

*HUGE HUGE HUGE Respect to the security personnel at **11:59** attempting to hold that post up for cars to leave risking his own life* Bravest Man

The total lack of urgency from most people caught in these is just frustrating as hell

We just drove along the Eddyville and Sanford dams area on Friday... It appears that they are working on replacing the upper dam currently

Without a doubt both of the Brazillian accidents were by far the worst ones. Specially because they weren't just normal dams, but dams used for mining, all of that water was heavily contaminated, so all that soil and groundwater below was also (and still is) filled with all kinds of toxic waste and heavy metals.

I was living in Yuba City at the time of the Oroville Dam incident. Everyone was freaking out about the dam being in danger of breaking. There was a huge mandatory evacuation of most cities immediately south of Oroville. Packed some things and started driving south, ended up stuck in traffic for a few hours. I ended up turning around and driving back to Yuba City. Figured if I'm going to die, I may as well be comfortable doing it (and not stuck in my car). Thankfully nothing happened.

I learned from this video that you should always run down hill and straight away from a dam failure. Also, if you are right next to the rushing water you are completely safe, there is no chance the ground will erode underneath you.

I don't know how I landed on these videos but now I can't stop watching

my grandfather used to say that "fire always leaves behind stones but water when it comes down, in the form of liquid water or snow, takes everything"

I remember being a kid and being told "be careful. The water can look smooth but has a strong current. " up to now I always thought it was overstated. Watching that damn break the water is like glass even though it's rushing by.

Can't imagine mullapperiyar and Idukki dams collapse together 😨

I live on what used to be Sanford lake, it's gone, washed down river into Saginaw Bay then Lake Huron. 3 dams actually failed that night! Thank goodness the warning system was up to par. They knew this was a real possibility for over 15yrs us locals have been screaming for repairs to be made but once again politicians did nothing. Arguing over who was to pay. Very lucky so few were hurt. But our town was wiped out, still the dams haven't even been touched. Our super smart government officials raised the lake level 3" for some dam mussel that was found in Wixom lake. The collapse happened days after but nobody's talking about that either. God help our country because our politicians sure aren't!

I worked on a underground hydro electric power plant and tunnel system. The possibility of this sort of thing happening was in the back of our minds. After seeing this glad that it didn’t.

It's important to realize both Mariana and Brumadinho were TAILINGS DAMS. A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue. Tailings can be liquid, solid, or a slurry of fine particles, and are usually highly toxic and potentially radioactive. Solid tailings are often used as part of the structure itself. Tailings dams rank among the largest engineered structures on earth. The Syncrude Mildred Lake Tailings Dyke in Alberta, Canada, is an embankment dam about 18 kilometres (11 mi) long and from 40 to 88 metres (131 to 289 ft) high. It is the largest dam structure on earth by volume, and as of 2001 it was believed to be the largest earth structure in the world by volume of fill.[1] There are key differences between tailings dams and the more familiar hydroelectric dams. Tailings dams are designed for permanent containment, meaning they are intended to "remain there forever".[2] Copper, gold, uranium and other mining operations produce varied kinds of waste, much of it toxic, which pose varied challenges for long-term containment.[3] Unlike water retention dams, the height of a tailings dam is typically increased (raised) throughout the life of the particular mine. Typically, a base or starter dam is constructed, and as it fills with a mixture of tailings and water, it is raised. Material used to raise the dam can include the tailings (if their properties are suitable), earthfill, or rockfill.[7] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailings_dam

Lived in Paradise when the Dam broke in Oroville. It was insane the amount of water that ripped through there. 1000’s of residents evac’d and the destruction took years to fix.

An intriguing point of view, several dams spillways having failures way to close on time from each other.

The music was absolutely terrible

The amount of power water holds, is beyond anything I’ve ever seen

How to survive a dam collapse 101: Step 1: Be the cameraman

That turbine busting loose had some serious power behind it.

The Edenville dam at 3:15 is just north of Midland Michigan. My parents owned a business in Midland for years. I grew up in Saginaw, just 25 miles away form Midland. When that dam broke it almost completely flooded out downtown Midland and just missed Dow Chemical world headquarters. I still know people in Midland, some who escaped damage to their homes and others who lost everything. It happened because the company who owned the dam didn't maintain it at all. Pure neglect. Luckily there were no fatalities.

I can’t believe how unprepared these places were. No exit strategy in place in case this happens? Or just never reviewed regularly so people remember. Insane how lots of them just stayed close and didn’t run at the first signs of failure.

ATENÇÃO!!! Em 2:19 a informação "Mariana Dam Disaster" está incorreta. A barragem da imagem não corresponde a "Mariana"; por favor, faça a correção.

That was great footage of those dam failures. The pressure wave coming out of that tunnel was amazing. The power of the water in these videos gave me a better understanding of it. You had better stay out of its way.

I was in Pangasinan, Philippines when the mountain dams broke during a typhon, and I'd never seen so much flooding in my life. It was devastatingly awesome.

I remember when I first saw that clip of the Brumadinho disaster, that is some of the most terrifying stuff I’ve ever seen. That huge embankment literally liquefying and unleashing a surging wall of hideous toxic waste that takes everything in front of it.

I think this is a very compelling selection. Thank you so much.

Guys if you're ever near a dam and hear drums, RUN

What amazes me is the dam breaking up water is rising and instead of hauling it to a high spot and people are just standing around talking until the dam thing finally collapses.

I'm from Brazil, i remember the Brumadinho and Mariana Dam disasters... They used military helicopters to rescue victims and a lot of people's died...

9:00 was insane!! Looked like something out of an action movie. Can't believe that guy made that run!

I did engineering work at Seabrook nuclear power plant and I was very impressed how safely was never compromised, in part because the NRC had their eyes on the ball…

5:25 those 2 trucks had time to leave if it wasn’t for that idiot blocking the way. Insane how out of their minds those guys must have been

The lack of self preservation in some of these videos is astonishing.

I’m wearing headphones watching videos at night. The female voice saying “what are you doing?” In the drum sections, 7:20, tore me UP bro. I can’t sleep now

All those people rushing out of that building must have been terrifying, and that wind coming from that tunnel was nuts! 😳🤯

I remember the Oroville Spillway one. I ended up getting sent to work as onsite admin for 8 months of the reconstruction efforts.

9:00 this whole situation is so intense. They warned him in the nik of time and the fear in the dudes voice sounded so sad

ആരെങ്കിലും ഉണ്ടോ കേരളത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഇതു കാണാൻ.?

Amazing how often it happens and how little you hear about it!

The devastation downstream for everyone and everything is almost unfathomable for some of these. water always wins!

The Brumadinho Tragedy was one of the largest ecological disasters in the history of Brazil, with inestimable damages for the region. Hundreds of people died and many more lost their homes, ecosystems were destroyed and a vibrant town that received many tourists every year (me included) was reduced to a pond of mud. It is still one of the most disgusting and revolting examples of total disregard for human life by a company. Perhaps the most revolting part is that Vale (the company responsible for the Dam) was able to settle to only pay around 7B$ over a few years, when the damage was obviously much larger (Please understand that this disaster basically destroyed a whole city); and the same company payed around 15B$ in dividend to its shareholders only in 2021. Absolutely no justice at all for the people or the city. Having visited the city before the tragedy, it almost makes me cry every time I talk about it, given the injustice that these people suffered under this cursed company.

Terrific disaster 😱 God bless those who faced this nature failure power force🙏

I’m surprised to see how non-qualified they are to handle an emergency. The fact that they are not evacuating but just walking or standing still.

We live 20-30 minutes north of the Oroville dam. Crazy to think that this last year the lake was so low that the hydro plant shut down (first time in history) Went from overflowing and breaking the spillway, potentially collapsing, to being practically empty in a few short years

I think one thing we can all take away from this is that if you live or work downstream from a dam, have an escape plan and implement it as quickly as possible

13:30 That was the Glacier brust resulting the Dam Overflow.

Has anyone calculated the speed at which the wind was roaring out of the tunnel at Hidroituango? My guess is at least 100 mph.

The last one is not a dam failure, but was caused by a landslide and Glacial lake collapse. The dam was well downstream and still under construction.

5:23 the guy driving road grader I'm sure got spoken to about his decision to block the road and make sure those other 2 vehicles got stuck.🤦

Dams are by far one of the scariest things I know, it feels unsettling just being near one, imagine one collapsing

Thank you to all these brave, strong men!

It's amazing and dismaying to me how when a dam is failing, people just stand around, or walk or drive slowly, as if they want to stay and watch it. The same thing happens with tsunamis. It's almost as if there are no warning bells going off in their minds, which makes me wonder about their minds in general. Isn't this a type of cognitive dissonance?

These are all so freaking infuriating. People just casually strolling around... Like, get the hell out of there.

Mullaperiyar dam is very danger situation right now...

It's amazing to see the power of just water

In none of these projects do I see escape routs for the folks at the bottom. Plenty of long, flat roads that follow the river. Nothing that goes uphill and away from danger. Just rocky gorges. Deathtraps.

The power of water has always fascinated me.

i lived in oroville during this, one of the parks i used to go to was completely underwater because it was right next to a river

This could easily be called "Victims of our own technology". 5:16 ALWAYS remember who your stupid co-workers are and avoid them at all costs, especially when your life depends on it. The guy driving the road grader in reverse (lowest gear available) cost I don't know how many lives. 8:09 What a shithole looking construction site. 11:38 Nice plan for egress in an emergency. At least they got a somewhat accurate count with those turn styles of the number of people running for their lives. 11:57 And no manual emergency release in case of emergency

0:52 notice how it’s really green at the bottom that means the grass is getting water from the dam, it’s seeping

The damn break at the one minute mark is absolutely terrifying. I don’t know if that’s a house or something near the bottom right hand side of the screen, but the force that thing gets hit with is unfathomable. If you look closely it looks like maybe there is a vehicle pulling around the back of it 😳

All them dudes standig chill af next to catastrophe... This is the confidence level I need

Plow at 4:57 single handedly dis not only endanger himself but took at least the two drivers with him that couldn't get pass. Makes me more angry than sad... 😖

At least the ones at 11:30 had the sense to run for it.

My Knee-jerk reaction to every collapse was to just say "damn" 😂

I like how the camera man always survives

The Oroville collapse was a scary time I remember it clearly. That wasn't even a true collapse either.

That guy who held the barrier up and let the cars out is a hero

It’s very important to have a Beaver as a consultant when building any dam.

1:35 watching that little car scurrying about. Can't imagine the smell inside that car once whoever was in it realized there was no way out. Priceless. Love it! 🤣

We don't know when is a Natural Disaster will happen but protecting and caring our environment is in our hands. Let's unite together for our better future on Earth... Stay safe all.

"You flood everything" "Why?" "Because you are a damn failure"

Those turbines must be under an incredible amount of pressure.

Those dam breaches exposed a lot of gold.

The motion of how the water was moving in this, video I u can tell, that it is a spirit.

8:06 is like a jet engine staring up

i am familiar with all of these events from the videos of others, but this is by far the best set of videos i have seen. Good job.

Never, ever underestimate the power of water!

The scariest thing about this video? The dates. These are all relatively recent, shocking to think this sort of thing still happens, it’s terrifying to think what this does to the environment in addition to the cost of life, both human and animals

No stupid commentary...no lengthy explanations...just the incident and a title....this is just perfect🍻

Where can I find the sound track from this video ? simply a masterpiece of editing skill.

Lived above flood zone of the dam in the hills when the oroville dam when it was like that crazy to think about now

I live 45 miles northwest of Orroville. It was intense watching it on the news.