Florida Trying To Stop "Catastrophic Flood Of Contaminated Water". Video

Manatee County officials on Saturday ordered people in more than 300 homes to urgently evacuate the area around an old phosphate plant at Piney Point, where officials described a deteriorating leak in one of the reservoir containment walls.

Florida officials were scrambling Sunday to prevent a "catastrophic flood" after the lining in a reservoir holding hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater sprung a leak. They warned that the breached reservoir's total collapse could send a 20-foot wall of contaminated water crashing down into the surrounding area. Manatee County officials on Saturday ordered people in more than 300 homes to urgently evacuate the area around an old phosphate plant at Piney Point, where officials described a deteriorating leak in one of the reservoir containment walls. "If you're in an evacuation area and you have not heeded that, you need to think twice and follow the orders," acting Manatee County administrator Scott Hopes warned. As state and local authorities warned of potential flooding, scientists expressed concern about longer-term consequences, including whether the leaking water could drive algae blooms that could be fatal to marine life.