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Crime & Safety

Police: Windsor's Rainbow Dam Was Not Damaged

Windsor police say Rainbow Dam operated as designed and did not crack due to Irene's floodwaters.

When Farmington River waters gushed over the Rainbow Dam Monday afternoon, only adding to the flooding near Windsor Center and contributing to the Connecticut River's overflow, some residents may have felt cause for concern as they watched floodwaters creep into parts of town unseen in decades.

According to Art Christian, head of the Dam Safety and Maintenance at the Department of Environmental and Energy Protection, the rush of water was caused by the breaking of a wood structure atop the dam, which is designe to break in times of excess rain or runoff to release pressure from the dam.

Windsor Police Captain Tom LePore echoed Christian's statement, urging residents that there is no cause for concern because "The dam is not cracking. The dam was never in any danger of cracking. The structure is perfectly sound.

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"The issue was that the volume of water was much higher than ever experience before. It was going through the spillways as well as over the tope of the dam the way it is supposed to," LePore added.

LePore also said that the backup of excess water at the dam is common; however, "this created a greater backup than normal in Windsor in the low lying areas." 

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"Some people that may never had flooding in the past - we are not surprised that they are experiencing some at this time."

Now that the flashboards have broken (), they will be replaced.

Windsor Patch Local Editor Julian McKinley contributed to this report.

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