Over the next two hours, all of Wixom Lake drained  through the breach in the dam.

在接下来的两个小时里，威克瑟姆湖的全部水通过大坝的缺口被排干。

The water impounded by the dam formed a reservoir  called Wixom Lake, nearly the entire perimeter of which was surrounded by waterfront homes.

大坝蓄积的水形成了一个名为威克瑟姆湖的水库，几乎整个湖区周围都被海滨房屋包围。

The deluge arrived early that morning, and it didn't take long for the water levels  in Wixom Lake to begin to rise.

那天早上洪水来得很早，没过多久， 威克瑟姆湖的水位就开始上涨。

A few seconds later, lacking  support from the rest of the structure, the dam's upstream face collapsed, and  all of Wixom Lake began rushing through.

几秒钟后，由于缺乏其他结构的支撑，大坝的上游面崩溃了， 整个威克瑟姆湖开始涌入。

From then on, there was nothing more operators could  do to get the floodwater out faster, and the level in Wixom Lake continued to creep  upwards.

从那时起， 操作人员无法采取更多措施来更快地排出洪水，威克瑟姆湖的水位继续上升。

After losing the license to generate hydropower, jurisdiction over the dam fell to the  State of Michigan, where disagreements about its structural condition, spillway capacity,   and water levels in Wixom Lake continued.

在失去水力发电许可证后，大坝的管辖权落入密歇根州，该州对其结构状况、溢洪道容量和威克瑟姆湖水位的分歧仍然存在。

The team concluded that as the level of Wixom Lake rose that fateful May evening, it  increased the hydraulic load on the embankment, putting more stress on the earthen structure than  it had ever been asked to withstand.

研究小组得出的结论是， 随着威克瑟姆湖水位的上升，堤坝上的水力负荷也随之增加，土质结构承受的压力超出了以往的承受能力。