Webcams can bring us all sorts of images, whether they’re shots of Antarctic penguins or the top of Mount Everest. Or my evening’s viewing, which I wasn’t quite planning on but can’t tear myself away from: Watching the partially constructed Cotter Dam in Canberra overflow with water.
The DamCam enabled by ACTEW is meant to show Canberra residents the slow and steady construction of a new dam, but that was before the recent rather-more-than-damp weather, which has seen the water level rise… and rise… and rise. So much so that if you check the DamCam right now, you can watch the water bursting through in 40 second update shots.
News reports indicate that it’s not likely that the dam’s overflowing state will endanger any lives or property, although a report at The Canberra Times indicates that the overflow is likely to release millions of litres of water into the Murrumbidgee River, and was predicted for around 8am tonight.
The cleanup may take some time, but for now, all we can do is watch. It’s an awesome display of the simple power of water, and while it’s not what I was planning on watching tonight, I’m quite hooked.
Update: This is what the dam looks like this morning:
Update: As Sim points out, there’s also a timelapse video of the dam flooding on Youtube:
[Canberra Times and DamCam]