of the dam to avoid false positives, and operating the dam in an unsafe manner by routinely overfilling the reservoir caused the upper reservoir dam to overtop. There was no overflow spillway in the original reservoir. A memo from Richard Cooper, superintendent of hydroelectric plant, indicated that the reservoir had a "Niagara Falls" style overflow on September 27 at the same spot that was breached (caused by wave action related to winds from Hurricane Rita). Another Cooper memo had also indicated that Cooper had warned that gauges used to monitor the water height in the reservoir were malfunctioning in October. No one was killed by the failure. The superintendent of Johnson's Shut-Ins and Taum Sauk State Parks, Jerry Toops, his wife and three children were swept away when the wall of water obliterated their home. They survived, suffering from injuries and exposure. The children were transported to a hospital in St. Louis and later released. One child was treated for severe burns which resulted from heat packs applied by rescue workers as treatment for hypothermia. The flood continued downstream 4.3 miles on the East Fork of the Snake River to the dam on the river supplying the Lower Reservoir for plant. The dam of the lower reservoir, which by design is able to hold much of the capacity of the upper reservoir, withstood the onslaught of the flood. By storing most of the deluge it spared towns downstream, including Lesterville and Centerville, from a damaging flood. A voluntary evacuation order was issued for those areas, but there was no damage. The high water was totally stopped at Clearwater Lake 29 miles below the Lower Reservoir, the dam of which was not damaged by the rising waters. Litigation and investigations The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) fined Ameren US$15 million pursuant to a settlement for the breach at Taum Sauk—a US$10 million civil penalty combined with the requirement to pay US$5 million into interest-bearing escrow in order to fund a variety of "project enhancements at or near the Taum Sauk project". The US$15 million fine was the largest fine in FERC's history, 30 times larger than the previous record fine of US$500,000. The State of Missouri sued Ameren for "actual and punitive damages" alleging Ameren was reckless in its operation of the plant. The Missouri Highway Patrol delivered a report of its criminal investigation to the Missouri Attorney General in