The Great Molasses Flood
In January 1919, Boston’s North End was shaken by an unimaginable disaster.
A massive storage tank—owned by the United States Industrial Alcohol Company—suddenly burst.
Inside: 2.3 million gallons of molasses.
When the tank gave way, the molasses formed a wave between 15 and 40 feet high, racing through the streets at 35 miles per hour.
The force was immense.
It ripped a fire station from its foundation.
It knocked an elevated train off its tracks.
Buildings collapsed.
Twenty-one people were killed.
One hundred and fifty more were injured.
Cleanup took weeks.
And according to locals, the smell of molasses lingered for decades.
The cause?
Negligence.
The tank had been built quickly, with steel that was too thin and brittle, and secured with too few rivets.
It was never properly inspected.
The seams leaked so badly that neighborhood children collected the dripping molasses in cups.
Rather than fix the problem, the Purity Distilling Company (a USIA subsidiary) painted the tank brown to hide the leaks.
On that cold January day, the pressure finally became too much.
I thought about this story earlier this week facing a similar—if less sticky—problem.
I had been ignoring a “small crack” in my business for months.
It wasn’t urgent.
It wasn’t causing major pain.
Until suddenly… it was.
Small cracks never stay small.
They grow under pressure.
And the longer you put them off, the more expensive, painful, and public the cleanup becomes.
In life, business, health, or relationships…
Fix the small leaks before they turn into a tidal wave.
What are you neglecting?
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