Lake Delhi Dam Breach: One Year Later

Aerial view of the Lake Delhi Recreation Association Dam after it had been compromised.���� Mark Benischek/Sourcemediagroup

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By Eric Stidman

Story Created: Jul 24, 2011 at 9:34 AM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2011 at 2:26 PM CDT

DELHI, Iowa — One year ago, the Lake Delhi Dam breached sending water into homes and businesses. The Maquoketa River swelled and over took the dam. The massive flooding changed the landscape of the area so many called home.

“I loved the lake. I watered ski. A teenager on the lake, you know?” asked Delhi resident Tammy Gorman. But that’s not what’s happening now. Rain showers soaked the Delhi area Sunday just like it did just a year ago. “Anyone involved in this is never going to forget. It’s always going to be there,” said Gorman. The images and the sounds of a dam breach are etched in Gorman’s memory. The floodwaters wiped out homes and businesses.

“The water got up to the top of the door went through everything on my floor so we completely gutted it and rebuilt,” said Delhi resident Robin Cram. Robin Cram says she’s lived in Delhi since childhood. “I was able to rebuild my whole first floor, but you keep looking around and its ongoing, ongoing.”

Tammy Gorman took her four-wheeler up to what used to be the dam. It was a failure that cost her a home, vehicle, and countless possessions. “We’re living in the same area; we’re renting a mobile home. We’re starting out with less than we had when we got married,” said Gorman.

But both Gorman and Cram haven’t moved. They never second-guessed rebuilding, even though their surroundings are still in pretty bad shape. “Everything is just as it was. The homes aren’t clean up. It’s a mess. There are creatures down there crawling through,” said Cram.

The raging waters took everything in its path and scattered them along the lake and they still lie there a year later. It’s a constant reminder. “Every day I think of this because I have nothing,” said Gorman. “I think we’re going to get some of this back. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to take a while.”

The nine-mile-long lake drained away in hours, but the clean up will take years. The cost to repair the dam could run between $10 and $12 million. The Iowa Senate has appropriated $5 million from the Rebuild Iowa Fund. Lake Delhi leaders hope to complete construction by the end of 2013.

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