Theorizing that loosed dam water caused the flooding

Elberta Hudson says that she and Thomas do not plan to buy a home in White Stocking, because the only land they were interested in was bought by the government and will presumably be designated a flood plain and made off limits to building. Then Thomas offers his theory on how the flood rose: "they" let dam water loose, which quickly overflowed creeks that were ill-equipped to deal with the volume of water.