FORT WORTH, Texas – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Lewisville Lake will conduct a flood response exercise July 28 beginning at 7:30 a.m. The exact time and date of the exercise won’t be announced publicly by the Corps until the exercise is underway to ensure the most realistic scenario possible.
During the exercise the public may notice more than normal activity in and around the lake. The exercise will simulate a stalled tropical storm causing the reservoir to flood. The flooding will in turn cause internal erosion and lead to imminent dam failure.
To lessen the chance of such a catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure, the Corps periodically conducts mandatory disaster exercises to rehearse all facets of coordination, communications, and effectiveness of its Emergency Operations Center and field personnel.
“The Fort Worth District has many critical and varying missions, but there is no other mission more important to us than protecting the life safety of the public,” said Fort Worth District deputy commander, Lt. Col. Neil Craig. “Taking a day to conduct this exercise will provide us the opportunity to practice and perfect our disaster response mission that ensures life safety.”
Media interested in covering the exercise should be at the Lewisville Lake office by 10:30 a.m. July 28 to be escorted to the sandbagging area for interviews, photos and B-roll. For more information on covering the exercise or to schedule an interview call Ed Rivera at (817) 694-9679 or Mr. Randy Cephus at (817) 781-6369.
The most recent forecast for the DFW-area shows little to no rain chance on the planned day of the exercise, but if a significant rain event does occur that day, the exercise will be canceled.
-30-
About the Fort Worth District: The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was established in 1950. The District is responsible for water resources development in two-thirds of Texas, and design and construction at military installations in Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico. Visit the Fort Worth District Web site at: www.swf.usace.army.mil and SWF Face book at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Worth-District-US-Army-Corps-of-Engineers/188083711219308
Release no. 14-034