The Vajont Dam Disaster - Italy 1963

The Vajont Dam disaster is sometimes described as the deadliest "man made" natural disaster of all time. Failure to understand the geology of the Vajont gorge led engineers to build a dam which was doomed from the start. This terrible loss of life should have never have been allowed to happen. Here is an all too familiar story of unheeded warnings and over reaching ambition.
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[@cayasta1970]

As an Italian, I could never forget the brilliant and yet frightening exemplification written by Dino Buzzati, one of our greatest novelists and journalists, on the Corriere della Sera the day after: "A pebble has fallen into a glass full of water and the water spilled over the tablecloth. That's all. Just the glass was hundreds of meters high and the pebble was big as a mountain and below, on the tablecloth, there were thousands of human, defensless creatures..."

[@erintheunready7575]

This incident has always fascinated just because it's nearly impossible to imagine what it must have looked like when that wave of water came over the dam. Of course, there are only estimations of how big the wave was but I've seen everything from 100-200m. Anything that big is absurd to imagine.

[@stuckinthestation]

My dad once told me, while passing through the Piave valley , around 5/6 years after the tragedy, one could see bedsheets and pieces of clothing still hanging on top of the tallest trees, so high the flood had dragged them, out of any reach; therefore, they just left the stuff in there... A most haunting sight for bystanders, a reminder of human green and stupidity. Still gives me the chills.

[@johnpotter8039]

I visited The Dolomites in August of this year. I have a photo from the traffic circle in Longarone with the dam visible in the gorge above. I parked and hiked down the trail (steep and rocky) and touched the upstream face of the dam, realizing that there was 750' of landslide debris under my feet. I took the tour across the crest and then had a wonderful lunch at a cafe in Erto. I also visited the cemetery and paid my respects. I had first read of the disaster in Life Magazine in 1963 and had to see it for myself. I am an engineer, and disasters like this are a powerful cautionary tale.

[@elmin82]

This sunday would be the anniversary of this disaster, rest in peace to the victims

[@davesmith5656]

For visual reference, waves at Nazare, Portugal, are reputed to get to be 100 feet high (people surf those things!). Those are massive waves. It isn't just the height, it is the enormous mass of water in them. Getting caught in one can lead to all kinds of broken bodies, as well as drowning. The estimated height of the Vajont wave was seven to eight times that height. Just trying to imagine such a wave at Nazare is mind blowing. It would "wipe out" everyone on the "safe" observation deck throwing them miles inland.

[@Gail1Marie]

Given that Monte Toc was nicknamed "The walking mountain" by locals, that should've been a hint. I live near the site of the St. Francis Dam, which also failed due to an unstable canyon wall which was ultimately attributed to an ancient landslide. At the time it was built (1924-1926) we knew far less about geologic hazards than we do now.

[@OceanusHelios]

I am an atheist but that single splash wave had a magnitude, volume, height, and energy of biblical and hollywood disaster movie proportions complete with the beyond belief exagerated scale. Truly spectacular but few lived to describe it. I see the same kind of hubris and "shoot the messenger" culture in the USA today. It is saddening that we have to still deal with this today's day and age and we will never learn as long as somebody can make a bunch of money from it and people have their ambitions at stake. The people who died were unintentional victims and innocent. It's a damned shame on those who didn't listen and ignored all the signs. It wasn't a matter of if but when and they knew it. It was not only predictable but predicted. I'm sure that rocking the boat was met with biligerant gaslighting and threats for those that tried to warn or raise questions.

[@TracyA123]

94% casualty rate!! That is a stunning number!! As you pointed out, that is a hard number to get your head around! I knew a little about this disaster but the photos and numbers are absolutely shocking!! Very sad subject but great video my friend! Couldn't be happier to see you uploading videos again after all that y'all went through. I'm very glad you and your family are ok and I hope and pray that good times are ahead!☺

[@divinita6012]

This type of disaster is just unfathomable. It's extremely difficult to imagine.

[@simonwilliams4514]

Good to have you back, and a great telling of a truly tragic story

[@richthompson1234]

I was born in the UK, in 1961 and this is the first time that I have heard of this disaster. Absolutely shocking to imagine what those poor people went through in their final moments. RIP.

[@tomstiyer657]

I remember this happening. I was in the 8th grade. Now, decades later, it echoes the St. Francis Dam disaster in southern California a few minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928 when the water behind the dam saturated the ancient landslide that formed the narrow point of the canyon and caused a spectacular failure of the dam which sent a wall of water down a canyon killing many and washing bodies out into the Pacific Ocean. Thank you for providing the excellent photographic documentation of this story which we did not have in 1963.

[@radioclash8175]

The fact that the dam held up to that tremendous force is impressive

[@reachandler3655]

A devastating example of 'just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should'.

[@thecraftydawn]

Thank you for presenting all of your videos with such respect.

[@Butters_Paranormal]

Hearing the wave was estimated at 750-800 feet high is not just mind blowing but also extremely terrifying

[@Steve-xi3lx]

Good to see you back creating! :)

[@grapeshot]

So getting Johnstown Pennsylvania vibes.

[@davehowe7332]

Whoever brought the story to light did a great job, thank you