America’s Tallest Dam (Oroville Dam) in Califonia is Collapsing and Might Drown Towns: 200,000 Residents Flee
California prepares for catastrophe: Battle to stop a collapse at America's tallest dam as 200,000 residents flee amid fears of a 100ft-deep flood that could stretch for 40 miles
Officials have been inspecting the nation’s tallest dam since first night this morning in a desperate effort to stop a devastating 100-foot tsunami from being unleashed, as 200,000 people remain under evacuation orders across California despite water levels dropping over night.
Concerned authorities warned in the worst case scenario a complete structural breakdown at the emergency spillway of Oroville Dam would unleash a torrent of water that would engulf Oroville within an hour.
The ensuing flood from the 770-foot dam would catastrophically put the city of Oroville and several other low-lying communities along the Feather River under 100ft of water.
The potential disaster is the result of massive spikes in water levels as a result of snow and heavy rain after years of drought, and damage to the primary and emergency spillways at the dam. Officials first noticed a massive hole in the dam’s spillway last week.
Donald Trump is yet to comment on the potential disaster.
And amid the frantic evacuations, it emerged overnight federal and state officials and some of California’s largest water agencies rejected concerns 12 years ago about the precarious state the dam – which was built between 1962 and 1968.
This map shows the potential worst case scenario for what could happen if the waters are not controlled and the flood breaks through the dam. It would take about 12 hours for the water to reach Yuba City more than 40 miles away following the path of the Feather River
Precarious situation: An aerial of the Oroville Dam reveals the dangerous flooding at the spillway that has left the area in imminent danger of a catastrophic flood
THE ANATOMY OF CATASTROPHE: WHAT HAS LED TO THE POTENTIAL DISASTER AT THE OROVILLE DAM
One of the key factors in the threat is the rapid rate at which water levels have risen. After years of severe drought in the region, heavy rain and snow have sent levels skyrocketing.
It is the first time that Lake Oroville, which lies 65 miles (105km) north of Sacramento, has been faced with such a potentially devastating emergency in the dam’s nearly half-century history.
The order for nearby residents to flee was issued after water levels climbed in the last week. The rise was compounded by the fact the dam’s main spillway, also known as an overflow channel, was found to be damaged.
As a result, the dam’s emergency spillway was called upon and activated for the first time since it was built in 1968, as flood waters rose ever higher.
But shocking, the secondary spillway was also found to be damaged.
In a statement posted on social media on Sunday afternoon, Mr Honea ordered residents to evacuate, repeating three times that it was “NOT a drill”.
The California Department of Water Resources warned that the emergency spillway next to the dam was ‘predicted to fail’.
The dangerous situation sparked the California National Guard to put out a notification to all 23,000 soldiers and airmen to be ready to deploy if needed.
The last time an alert for the entire California National Guard was issued was the 1992 riots.
And early on Monday morning, relieved officials said that water had stopped pouring over the dam’s emergency spillway after they essentially rose 50-feet over a few days.
They announced that although not nearly out of the woods, the situation had improved.
However, another storm is predicted to hit the area by Friday, putting more strain on the dam and potentially sparking a catastrophic failure.
On Sunday afternoon, Lake Oroville – one of the state’s largest man-made lakes – had water levels so high that an emergency spillway was used Saturday for the first time in almost 50 years.
The evacuation was ordered Sunday afternoon after engineers spotted a hole on the concrete lip of the secondary spillway for the 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam and told authorities that it could fail within the hour.
‘I’m just shocked,’ said Greg Levias, who was evacuating with his wife, Kaysi, two boys and a dog.
What they couldn’t fit in their trunk they piled as high as they could in their downstairs Yuba City apartment and joined the line of traffic attempting to leave the city where they had moved just three weeks ago.
Panicked and angry residents sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic hours after the evacuation order was given.
Raj Gill was managing a Shell station where anxious motorists got gas and snacks while waiting for gridlocked traffic to clear.
His boss told him to close the station and flee himself, but he stayed open to feed a steady line of customers.
‘You can’t even move,’ he said. ‘I’m trying to get out of here too. I’m worried about the flooding. I’ve seen the pictures – that’s a lot of water.’
A Red Cross spokeswoman said more than 500 people were at an evacuation center in Chino, California. The shelter had run out of blankets and cots, and a semi-tractor trailer with 1,000 more cots was stuck in the gridlock of traffic fleeing the potential flooding, said Red Cross shelter manager Pam Deditch.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman said they would have two planes out Monday to help with traffic control as well as search and rescue.
State Fire and Rescue Chief Kim Zagaris said at least 250 law enforcement officers from throughout the state are in the area or on their way to help with the evacuation.
Local Sikh leaders announced early on Monday morning they have thrown open temple doors across the area, and are offering food and shelter to all people who have been forced from their home.
Safe: Evacuees Jason and his wife Elizabeth Bourquin of Live Oak, settle in for the night with their son Dallas, 5, at the Neighborhood Church of Chico in Chico, California
Experts estimated the dam would be breached at 4.45pm on Sunday, but dropping huge rocks into the 170-foot by 250-foot hole appears to have relieved the problem temporarily.
Acting Director Department of Water Resources Bill Croyle said officials will be able to assess the damage to the emergency spillway now that the lake levels have been lowered.
The erosion at the head of the emergency spillway threatens to undermine the concrete weir and allow large, uncontrolled releases of water from Lake Oroville.
Those potential flows could overwhelm the Feather River and other downstream waterways, channels and levees and flood towns in three counties.
Oroville Lake levels had decreased by Sunday night as they let water flow from its heavily damaged main spillway.
Croyle said the department will continue releasing as much as 100,000 cubic feet per second from the main spillway to try and reduce the dam’s level by 50 feet ahead of storms forecast to reach the area Wednesday.
Department engineer and spokesman Kevin Dossey told the Sacramento Bee the emergency spillway was rated to handle 250,000 cubic feet per second, but it began to show weakness Sunday after flows peaked at 12,600 cubic feet per second.
Honea said there was a plan to plug the hole by using helicopters to drop rocks into the crevasse. But Croyle said at that no repair work was done after officials looked at the flow and available resources.
Gov. Jerry Brown late Sunday issued an emergency order to fortify authorities’ response to the emergency at the dam and help with evacuations.
Adjutant General David S. Baldwin of the California National Guard said at a news conference late Sunday that eight helicopters will be available Monday to assist with emergency spillway reconstruction.
Officials said the situation seemed less dire overnight but Sacramento television station KCRA reported that helicopters from around the state were sent to drop chest-high bags of rocks to close the hole in the spillway.
The NBC affiliate showed dump trucks dropping off piles of rock, which were then loaded into the bags with backhoes. The operation to close the gap would begin as soon as it was feasible, the station said.
After years of drought Northern California has endured several months of exceptionally wet weather. Oroville and other lakes are brimming and have begun releasing water to make room for more runoff.