'Just one of those things'

On Saturday evening, a dam on Hadlock Pond broke, flooding parts of the upstate New York town of Fort Ann.

Ironically, the dam was built only two months ago when the previous dam was deemed unsafe. The previous dam was built in the late 19th century and had never failed so spectacularly. The new dam was approved by all relevant authorities.

Fort Ann's town attorney said, "I don't think anybody could speculate on what happened. It's just one of those things."

The breach spilled hundreds of millions of gallons of water, destroying roads and several homes and causing much damage. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated and have not yet been able to return. Amazingly, there was no loss of human life... though that might have been different had the breach occurred only a few hours later, during nightfall.

Now perhaps this is merely a town attorney who is worried about his client's potential liability, but it seems a little bit more grave than 'just one of those things'!