Attorney General Jay Nixon toured the flood-damaged Taum Sauk reservoir area on Dec. 19. More than 1 billion gallons of water were released after the reservoir gave way on Dec. 14, carving a path down Proffit Mountain that carried away trees and topsoil and exposed the bedrock. The breach is in top right corner of the reservoir.

The campgrounds at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park in Reynolds County were destroyed by the waters.

Attorney General Nixon, right, and William Bryan, deputy chief counsel of Nixon's Agriculture and Environment Division, take a first-hand look at the devastation in the state park.

An aerial photo shows the 600-foot-wide breach in the 55-acre reservoir atop Proffit Mountain. The floodwaters scoured a path that removed trees and topsoil down to the bedrock.

The view from the bottom of Proffit Mountain, showing the path carved by 1 billion gallons of water released from the upper Taum Sauk reservoir. Before the reservoir gave way, the area now bare was covered with trees. A newly formed scour hole was created by the flood.