The area that safeguards orbiting satellites in Middle Earth Orbits is referred to as the Van Allen Belt.  This is a reduced radiation zone around the earth and the cause of this zone has been discussed by scientists for many years. For four decades it was believed that the zone was safe due to radio waves from space that cleared the area of harmful radiation. A few year ago, NASA scientists identified the cause as lightning.  Researchers believe that the cleansing radio waves are caused by lightning to create the protective zone.  The radio waves interact with particles within the radiation belt, zap some of the energy, change the energy direction and prevent the radiation particles to bounce back into space.  Without the cleansing aspect of the lightning, a large, damaging radiation belt would occur, preventing satellites to orbit in the Van Allen Belt. In the future, scientists may be able to remove other damaging belts from around the earth. Another item recognizes this date in 1874 and a dam break in Williamsburg, MA that killed 13. Floods have resulted in the failure of dams and the stress on these structures caused by heavy or prolonged downpours. On February, 26, 1972, two coal slag dams along Buffalo Creek in southern West Virginia broke, unloading two miles of backed-up water into a lower dam that exploded.  In the hollow below, 4,000 homes were washed away and 125 people died. On June 5, 1976, the 305-foot Teton Dam in Idaho collapsed releasing 80 billion gallons of water into adjoining farmland.