Work crews rush to shore up failing dam

Emergency crews in northwest England raced to pump water from a reservoir with a damaged dam yesterday as weather forecasts calling for thunderstorms hastened fear of the structure failing and flooding of a town. Firefighters said 22 high-capacity pumps were working around the clock to suck water out of the Toddbrook Reservoir to ease pressure on the dam, which was damaged when part of a spillway gave way in heavy rain last week. To repair a gaping hole, a Royal Air Force helicopter dropped one-ton bags of sand and gravel into the chasm.