1.   The dam burst after heavy rains.

2.   The dam burst, swamping the valley and hundreds of homes.

3.   A dam burst and flooded their villages.

4.   The dam burst with a stupendous gush of water.

5.   A dam bursts and a life pours forth.

6.   Dams have burst with lesser consequences.

7.   Perhaps a landslide had dammed a river, Bell speculates, and then suddenly the dam burst.

8.   Rather, it seems as though a dam has burst.

9.   Residents were evacuated, however, amid fears that a soil-conservation dam could burst.