LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Winter is no friend to docks.
Cold weather brings ice, which can cripple dock structures. Heavy snowfall accumulated on dock roofs can weigh down docks enough to sink them. And on those notorious gusty winter days, docks can be blown around, causing them to collide with others nearby or even break loose from their anchors.
video courtesy of Al Griffin
Keeping a dock protected from winter wind is tricky, since experts recommend dock owners loosen their cables in preparation for the winter drawdown. The Lake drops by about six feet in the winter, as Ameren (which owns and operates Bagnell Dam) prepares for the influx of spring rain runoff. That also gives Lakefront property owners a chance to maintain their seawalls and shoreline. But those loosened cables can also give the dock more freedom when the wind blows.
Lakefront homeowners who don't live here full time may need to consider calling someone to check their dock cables... or just hope for the best. But as the National Weather Service calls for sustained winds of 25–30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph on Monday, Jan. 21, dock owners should consider checking the integrity of their dock cables, and making sure the cables aren't so loose that the dock could be easily blown into a nearby dock.
In the weekend's catastrophic flooding and subsequent high lake levels, docks have begun to break away from the shore on the Lake of the Ozarks. The dock depicted above reportedly collided with the Highway 54 bridge on the Niangua Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks.
Video by Mark Ellifson
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Boat- and dock-owners at Lake of the Ozarks have learned the hard …
Docks Overturned, Homes Damaged In High Winds At The Lake
A fierce storm that spawned an EF-1 tornado in the Lake of the Ozarks area damaged docks, homes, buildings and trees on Monday night.
photos courtesy Morgan County 911
