[Uncle Sam has spent billions trying to control floods and more billions are committed for the huge job. Still floods exact a heavy toll in property and human misery each year. So is the spending worthwhile? Those most concerned with the program say yes. Their argument: If it weren't for the controls, the $600-$70O million damage bill the public pays each year would be far higher. Stanley Meisler explores the whole complex problem in the following story.] Government officials estimate that the nation's network of levees, dams, and reservoirs each year saves $600-milllon worth of property from destruction by the ravaging rivers of America. Despite this, the rivers have not been tamed. Every year floods destroy $700 million worth of property and inflict widespread human misery. And the toll may be swelling. The great flood-control program of the country, begun in the late 1930s, has not eliminated or halved or even reduced substantially the damage from floods. But its sponsors say it has prevented damage from soaring to staggering heights and blocked catastrophies that might have stunted the growth of some industrial valleys and wrecked the economies of others...
[Uncle Sam has spent billions trying to control floods and more billions are committed for the huge job. Still floods exact a heavy toll in property and human misery each year. So is the spending worthwhile? Those most concerned with the program say yes. Their argument: If it weren't for the controls, the $600-$70O million damage bill the public pays each year would be far higher. Stanley Meisler explores the whole complex problem in the following story.] Government officials estimate that the nation's network of levees, dams, and reservoirs each year saves $600-milllon worth of property from destruction by the ravaging rivers of America. Despite this, the rivers have not been tamed. Every year floods destroy $700 million worth of property and inflict widespread human misery. And the toll may be swelling. The great flood-control program of the country, begun in the late 1930s, has not eliminated or halved or even reduced substantially the damage from floods. But its sponsors say it has prevented damage from soaring to staggering heights and blocked catastrophies that might have stunted the growth of some industrial valleys and wrecked the economies of others...
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