It was to have lasted a quarter of a century or more, that Tempe Town Lake dam. A rubber structure, Tempe Town Lake dam created a beautiful natural landmark for the city of Tempe, Arizona. According to Associated Press reports, however, one of the 11-year-old dam segments burst. Two-thirds to three-fourths of Tempe Town Lake will flood the dry riverbed of Salt River, which happens to be an area where some of Tempe’s homeless tend to sleep during the summer.
Injury wire quiet on Tempe Town Lake
No injuries of property damage at Tempe Town Lake has been reported as yet, as outlined by local media sources. Area residents said they heard a loud “ka-boom” and felt the ground shake near Arizona State University. Seconds afterward, witnesses saw animals fleeing the scene. After several minutes, safety alarms started to sound. Whether transients camping within the Salt River bed heard the alarms is unknown.
One billion gallons out of Tempe Town
Consider that flow, advises city Mayor Hugh Hallman. City officials apparently knew back in 2007 that Tempe’s hot, dry climate was taking its toll on the rubber dam. Yet repair action was not taken at that time. Two years later, engineers advised Tempe government to act, to no effect.
Wither the individuals without homes?
The emergency alarm clearly went off, but nobody knows at this early stage just how the homeless fared following the Tempe Town Lake dam disaster. This could all just be mechanical failure and bureaucratic inaction. But if the fiscal angle is taken through the lens of the cost of homelessness, other possibilities emerge. Various media sources indicate that chronic homelessness costs the United States $ 10.95 billion each year in public funds. Forbes reports that that figure would descend to a more manageable $ 7.88 billion if the homeless were given permanent homes.
There could be residency
Tempe’s home country of Maricopa County has 8,000 homeless individuals daily, reports AZCentral.com. If these disadvantaged individuals all of a sudden had residency, taxpayer funds would be saved and Maricopa County would cut their emergency resource expenses nearly in half. Tempe Town Lake and an exploding rubber dam may sound like comedy, but the possible impact on the homeless – even for the better, if they’re forced into housing – could provide something truly good .
Sources
philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/20100721_ap_rubberizeddambreaksatmanmadearizonalake.html
azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/06/11/20100611tempe-homeless-outreach-united-way.html
forbes.com/2006/08/25/us-homeless-aid-cx_np_0828oxford.html
