Over in Aotearoa (New Zealand), volcanic Mount Ruapehu has a crater lake that's been filling up with rainwater and is due to overflow any year now. It's happened before -- in 1953, when the downstream flood wrecked a railroad bridge just before an oncoming train was to cross it. 151 people were killed as the train derailed and plunged into the floodwaters.
Ruapehu's crater lake has a volume of 8 to 10 million cubic meters, and experts estimate that about 1 million cubic meters would be released when the flood happens this time. (For comparison, the Kaloko Dam failure on Kauaʻi let out a flood of 1,400 acre-feet of water, which is about 1.7 million cubic meters.) The New Zealand government has done a study of the threat. Unlike on Kauaʻi, there are no houses downstream, so with luck no one will be hurt this time.
Ruapehu's crater lake has a volume of 8 to 10 million cubic meters, and experts estimate that about 1 million cubic meters would be released when the flood happens this time. (For comparison, the Kaloko Dam failure on Kauaʻi let out a flood of 1,400 acre-feet of water, which is about 1.7 million cubic meters.) The New Zealand government has done a study of the threat. Unlike on Kauaʻi, there are no houses downstream, so with luck no one will be hurt this time.
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