Desná Dam

The Desná Dam (locally known as the Burst Dam) was a dam constructed on the Bílá Desná river in the Jizera Mountains, which are in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It is known for bursting on September 18, 1916, ten months after it was built, which caused the river to flood the nearby town of Desná, killing 67 people and causing hundreds of others to lose their homes. The dam was constructed over a five-year period and was given final approval on November 18, 1915. On September 18 the next year, at around 3:30pm, log workers noticed the first evidence of water leaking through the dam. The dam keeper ordered the reservoir to be drained, but the flow rate continued to increase. At 4:00pm, inhabitants of Desná were warned, and at 4:15pm, the dam burst with 250,000 cubic meters of water inside, which swept through the town. The number of fatalities was originally considered to be 62, though in 2016, researcher Dana Nývltová found that court documents from the time showed 65 victims, and that 2 additional victims died later in hospital.