The video above shows the spectacular moment when all 14 Panama Canal doors opened to mitigate flooding caused by Hurricane Otto.
Jorge Luis Quijano, Executive Vice President – Engineering and Programs Management at Panama Canal Authority, revealed the plan to open the floodgates on social media. Specifically, the hurricane’s alley caused damages and the water level increased significantly. Aiming to prevent the canal and the surrounding villages from flooding it was decidded to open all the canal sluices for the first time in four years at the same time.
It is said that the equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools of water was poured through the gates every second.
Moreover, the traffic on nearby roads was stopped for four hours as a precautionary measure. The storm packed 75 mile and hour winds and heavy rains.
Hurricane Otto’s allay left three people killed in Panama. Among them, a boy reported killed.
The hurricane has been further forecasted to strike Costa Rica and Nicaragua next.
