Susie C. Spear
Low-head dams, such as the 8-foot-high structure at Duke Energyâs Dan River Steam Station, are a threat to public safety, claiming nearly 50 lives nationwide each year, say civil engineers and dam safety advocates.
Their aim: to educate the public about the hazards of low-head dams and convince dam owners to rehabilitate the structures.
On June 16, nine members of an Eden family set out on the Dan River in tubes for a two-hour float that turned deadly when the group went over the Duke Energy dam.
Four survived, and rescue teams worked for five days to recover the bodies of four of five missing tubers, including a 7-year-old boy. The search for Teresa Villano, 35, continued this past week near Draper Landing along the Dan River along N.C. 700.
WOODY MARSHALL photos, NEWS & RECORD
Ruben Villano is embraced at the prayer vigil for victims of the
June 16 Dan River tubing accident in Eden. Villano was in the group
of nine tubers floating down the river that went over a dam. Four
people, including Villano, were rescued from the water the next
day. Four bodies were recovered and one person remains missing.
WOODY MARSHALL, NEWS & RECORD
Elias Meadows, 4, holds a candle at the prayer vigil Saturday
for the victims of the June 16 Dan River tubing accident in
Eden.
WOODY MARSHALL, NEWS & RECORD
Greensboro News & Record Angelica Villano thanks everyone for