In 2017, America’s tallest dam complex had partially, but catastrophically, failed. The Oroville Dam, located in northern California, left operators scrambling to figure out how to manage a main spillway failure, eroding secondary spillway, and a rising water level in the reservoir. Remember those tense days when America was riveted to the nightly news for the latest updates? Remember the engineers who calculated that Sacramento, which is in a geological basin, would be hip-deep in water if the Oroville complex collapsed? The thing is, this didn’t make the nightly news - at least nothing more than five seconds of video and another ten seconds of narrative. But, that didn’t mean Americans, Californians, and people near Oroville didn’t have questions. They had a lot of questions. In fact, people across the world were thirsty for updates about Oroville - and they received them from Juan Browne. In this episode, Doc discusses Chapter 2: Face Validity, from his book, ‘The Velocity of Information - Human Thinking During Chaotic Times. He reads an excerpt about Juane Browne and the Oroville Dam and points out how there are reliable, organic journalists around us - and how we can responsibly break our own news to inform our communities and friends. David will reference pages 41-45 from The Velocity of Information. THE OROVILLE DAM. Completed in 1968, Oroville Dam was a showpiece of the California State Water Project. Located on the Feather River, east of the city of Oroville and 70 miles north of Sacramento, the earthen embankment dam was used for flood control, water storage, and hydroelectric power generation. The dam was modern and, until 2017, had an insignificant history. But as all structures, entropy took its toll. 2017 SPILLWAY FAILURE. On February 8, 2017, during a routine water release, a large portion of the center spillway collapsed. With fears that continued use of the spillway could erode further toward the gates and completely collapse the structure, a decision was made to pass water over the emergency spillway. On February 11, 2017, Oroville Dam, America’s tallest, at 770 feet, overtopped and damaged its emergency spillway for the first time in its history, forcing the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. The unnatural disaster took about one billion dollars to repair and caused millions more in property damage. JUAN BROWN’S FIRST VIDEO OF THE DAM. “Just one day prior to the incident, on February 10, Browne made his first video about the dam. Fearing that the government would soon restrict air traffic over the site, Browne, a commercial pilot for American Airlines, got into his 1946 Luscombe 8A single-engine plane to offer the world the rarest of bird’s-eye view. Browne used a GoPro Hero5 camera to shoot the video. He added narration and published it to his YouTube channel, @blancolirio, the next day. The video immediately went viral. It has since amassed more than 500,000 views. In the five-minute, ten-second video, Browne shows a command of the scene, the situation, and the possible consequences of the dam’s failure. The view from 3,000 feet is intimate and dramatic. With no other planes in the sky, and no people at the site, the rarity of the vantage is apparent. One gets the feeling of being led on a backstage tour. Throughout, Browne’s tone is even and informative, never breathless or excited. “That’s the big concern going forward: how much erosion are we going to get?” Browne says at one point, summarizing the fears of his neighbors who were watching. That concern was justified. BROWNE BECAME THE TRUSTED SOURCE. Up in the air, seeking truth, and answering the questions that mattered to neighbors fearing for their futures is when things took off for Juan’s YouTube Channel. He was granted special access to the dam complex to film his updates and to interview workers. When he appeared at state informational meetings, the audience sought his input as much as it did the engineers at the front table. “As the months-long repair effort went on, Browne continued his reports. Over time, he was perceived as an honest broker by the state and the engineering firm, and was allowed a unique level of access to the dam. “Nobody else was really doing it with this level of detail or interest,” Browne said. PEOPLE WANT THE FACTS. Juan also believes that is why the public responded so strongly. “There is a huge void, or a huge market for, just the facts,” Browne said. “People really responded to that, and it seems to be so lacking in today’s modern infotainment industry. They just wanted the facts.” THREE LESSONS FROM JUAN. (A) See it for yourself, (B) You have not because you ask not, and (C,) Be curious, not cunning. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE, BLOG & BOOKS: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David P. Perrodin, PhD. This podcast and blog post represent the opinions of David P. Perrodin and his guests to the show. This is episode 179 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 04-26-2022.
Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Books:
License Plate Readers in Schools | An Added Layer For Campus Security or Rights Violation? | SDP202
Perfect Attendance Can Win High School Students A New Car | What Do You Think? | SDP201
Bystander Effect | Why Are We Unwilling To Help When Others Are Watching? | SDP200
Opioid Emergencies in K-12 Schools | Community and Legal Considerations | SDP199
Medical CBD Oil In Schools | Brooke Adams vs. Rincon Valley Union School District | FAPE | SDP198
Bank Account Voting System | Transparent Solution to Election Integrity | Guest Lee Jarvis | SDP197
Seven School Safety Exercise Objectives That Actually Help Teachers, Police, Fire, and EMS | SDP196
The Meteoric Rise of High School Esports | What You Need to Know | Guest Mike Dahle | SDP195
The Law of Necessity | Good Samaritan Considerations | Guest Attorney Lisa Linney | SDP194
Citizen’s Arrest - What You Should Know | Your Jury Trial Rights | Guest Attorney Legalman | SDP193
Should Teachers Be Armed? | High School Trap Teams | Guest Competitive Shooter Bending Ballistics
What It Was Like to Present Live School Safety Specials on PBS TV | Never Do This One Thing | SDP191
Fitness in Chaotic Times | What Really Motivates Us | Fitness Professional Megan Usui | SDP190
School ‘Swatting’ Skyrocketing in America | What Is It? | What Can Be Done to Stop It? | SDP189
Peggy The Comfort Pig | Animals in Schools | BOE Policy and ADA Considerations | SDP188
I Failed My PhD Dissertation Defense | Priest Prepared Last Rites | SDP187
Decision Making Up in the Air | Pilot Graham Wilson | The DECIDE model | SDP186
Bill Would Ban Cellphones in Schools | 7 Reasons For and 7 Against Cellphones in Schools | SDP185
Lost Person Behavior Facts | 4 Ways to Make it Easier to Be Found | SDP184
$50K Bonus for Teachers | Unpacking Educator Free Agency | SDP183
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