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98 Comments
- pairanoyd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+80I was there when it happened.
I was working on a tow boat, pushing two barge loads of JP4 jet fuel on the way to Eglin Air Force base in Pensacola, we were going Brownsville to Pensacola via the intercostal. We were about 40 miles away from the area it happened, the intercostal canal crossed this lake. It sucked the canal dry and left us grounded in mud for a few days while it refilled. We were close enough that we could get the local TV channels, there were a bunch of people out fishing in the lake and a number of them were left stranded in mud and had to be rescued. One guy was sleeping while he fished and woke up to find the lake gone. He thought it was the end of the world..
This was very freaky stuff. It was fine with me because it delayed our trip by a few days so I made some extra pay while we sat around. This has to be one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced. I'll never forget it.. - wingerspoon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+33Don't complain about not having pictures...an article is better than nothing. I found it quite interesting, and I was willing to take a few minutes to actually READ.
- ryanonroam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28The pictures were easy to find: http://tinyurl.com/o43ra & http://tinyurl.com/ozn8r
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -23/+49longman2g,
Unfortunately, digg.com is full of diggers. Diggers are a demographic known to be:
-infantile
-immature
-closed-minded
-negative
-self-righteous
-fascist
-uninformed
-lazy
Don't be surprised when your comment, no matter how legitimate or intelligent it is, is buried by diggers. I mean, c'mon, this one's getting buried right along with yours. - rudolphdude, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29Though the words range in the thousands, a few pictures would do about the same job.
- XxN3RDC0R3xX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23It's an engineering incident, engineering uses technology.
But yes, it is old news. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21Drilling is technology related =/
- bgreenlee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19RTFA: "Despite the enormous destruction of property, no human life was lost in this disaster, nor were there any serious injuries."
- XxN3RDC0R3xX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Definately a story for the grandkids :)
- Glanzer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Wow. But I was hoping for some pics. I searched around and could only find a few here:
http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/lakepeigneur.htm
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DG&Date=20051121&Category=LOCALNEWS&ArtNo=511210801&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1 - Merlyn383, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The Discovery Channel video is Modern Marvel: Engineering Disasters 5. It's a great segment with plenty of video (and an interview with a rather interesting local).
- thewise1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10rofl @ this comment on that site:
"JustAnotherName says:
If they don't stop taking all the oil out of the earth as well as other countries setting off nuclear bombs under ground, the pace of Earth Quakes will carry on; the techtonic plates need that oil to make it easier to glide centimeter by centimeter year in and year out. Take that away and you leave no lubricant and nice big holes the earth decides to fill up."
Comedy gold, I tell you - loginname, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 5 was the episode number, just incase anyone is wondering.
- hohead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Google Maps link of the lake: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=New+Iberia,+Louisiana&t=k&ll=29.98252,-91.980286&spn=0.03628,0.088148
- jaderobbins, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11obviously if people are digging it, it's new enough to all of us to be news. Distributed journalism means that we decide what to see. Majority rule, jerk face.
- bigteebo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8So essentially the world's largest toilet flush happened.
- Mitchl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Ok, the salt mining job has to absolutely suck. You work in a mine, underneath a lake, where they drill down through the lake looking for oil.
I am no engineer, so I am going to have to chickensh*t out right there before working in that mine. - Sippi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters... It ussually comes on the History Channel and it does have old home movies of the actual whirpool sucking everything down. It is really pretty cool to see it at work!
- fr3nch13, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I've seen a video of this on the Discovery Channel, can anyone find it?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I am a huge fan of the Modern Marvels show and definitly remember the one with this. Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 5. http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=73136&browseCategoryId=&location=&parentcatid=&subcatid=
- soogy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Digg is science and technology.
- augustwest30, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6A similar thing happened in 1959 in Pennsylvania when a coal mine collapsed under the Susquehanna River. I have seen amazing video of a train car getting sucked into the vortex.
http://www.explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?storyId=11&imgId=1005 - daFilms, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Thank You... "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." ~ Joseph Addison
there will always be wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Peigneur - padrebuf, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8found this a couple of weeks ago, http://digg.com/science/Lake_Peigneur:_The_Swirling_Vortex_of_Doom , and searched for pics everywhere, to no avail. there was a documentary on TV about it 5(?) years ago...
- Brazos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Salt domes make an excellent trap for oil and gas. Most of the early oil exploration (early 1900's) in the gulf coast was looking for a hill among all the flat land. Drill around the hill (caused by a rising salt dome) and you'd get oil and gas.
- moylan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7i remember reading this in the heroic book of failures. the story of the fisherman who was quoted as thinking it was the end of the world was hilarious :-)
- Nerys, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Ehh digg is not a tech news site. maybe it WAS a tech news site but not any more. its now a USER news site. thats the entire premise of digg. I think this was a great digg. If I want news I will goto zdnet or some such whatever. I want neat interesting COOL stuff new old tiny whatever. THATS why I like digg.
Burried articles dont exist to me. the first thing I do is click show all (wish they would let me set that as default) I dont recognize the unalterable right of other users to dictate which comments I see I will decide for myself thank you :-)
I have most of the modern marvels episodes recorded and archived somewhere. Gonna have to go dvd-r hunting and figure out which disk its on.
Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/ - lavawalker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7you mean 180 minutes.
- XxN3RDC0R3xX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@rspeed "There is nothing at all newsworthy about an unremarkable drilling platform put in an unremarkable situation 26 years ago."
Unremarkable situation?
- Reversed the flow of two rivers
- Boats being sucked into a quarter-mile-wide swirling vortex
- Infusion of new aquatic species
- 3.5 billion gallons of water moved in 3 hours
- Freshwater lake turned saltwater
You call that unremarkable? - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I'll be looking for this one in the next bathroom reader. Great story and damn interesting ;)
- Fenster, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6I think this lake was the topic of an Engineering Disasters episode on the History Channel. A few of the barges actually popped back up after the vortex settled.
If it is the same accident I think it actually reversed the flow of the Mississippi as well. I reseve the right to deny that part though. Nasty stuff. - jofer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The scary thing is the number of students I have in Geo 101 that seem to think along those lines... On a map test today I asked which way a particular stream was flowing (as in North, South, etc). Several people put "upstream"... So apparently, the earth needs oil to stay well lubricated, and streams flow upstream...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But aren't you the one who's teaching them geology?
- btipling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yeah, I'd love to see a picture of a giant whirlpool dragging barges down. Somebody must have taken pictures of it
- DougieD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Fascinating story. I totally digg this. The aquatic ecosystem must have changed DRAMATICLLY (going from fresh to salt water is a HUGE change, nevermind the fact that the lake went from 11 feet to 11 hundred feet!) It would be interesting to read up on some of the environmental impacts of this incident.
- jofer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1touche! : )
- merkle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm pretty sure the color photograph was invented way before 1980. Why are all the pics in B+W?
- farfromsubtl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree wingerspoon, that was a DAMNED good real. Damn Interesting seems like a great blog.
- imightbewrong, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Breaking news!!! .... ive seen this on the history channel so it can't be that new....anyway its actually a pretty good story the video footage is awesome and no deaths!!
- purpleplatyduck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this takes "old news" to a new level...but very cool nonetheless.
- Steelfox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Got a link to the video? I'd love to see.
- modian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3found it on ed2k network: ed2k://|file|Modern%20Marvels%20-%20Engineering%20Disasters%20-%205.mpg|759252996|BF97DA3C95C833CC6744B7F222322D45|/
you'll need eMule or something similar to grab it: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/emule/eMule0.47a-Installer.exe - austintxphil, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2C'mon, check your facts before making silly statements like 'the flow of the Mississippi was reversed for a day and a half'. The lake is connected via the mentioned canal to the intracoastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi is over an hour's drive away from New Iberia. Check it on the link above to Google Maps.
- cptshamrock, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I saw something about this on the history channel once, it was pretty spectacular.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Greed of Texaco? Why not the greed of the salt mine? Or the greed of your mother, bringing another ***** into the world?
- Wireddd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1someone should put that video up on a torrent
- rspeed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yeah, meant to say remarkable. Heh.
- ticketmack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Cool! Who's getting the movie rights?
No, really. That is some wild story. I can't believe that something like that really happened. But it's a big planet, and nature is not a girl to mess with. - mousky, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3How is this news? The event happened over 25 years ago and the blog entry was posted over 6 months ago. No digg.
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