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Race against the weather to avoid catastrophe at CA dam
Crews race weather to avoid disaster at California dam
Story highlights
- Rain over the next week could push billions of gallons of water into Lake Oroville
- Crews are working "24/7" to plug the damaged spillway before the next storms
Oroville, California (CNN)Authorities
are scrambling to drain Lake Oroville by 50 feet and repair damage to
an emergency spillway before an imminent rainstorm threatens to push
billions of gallons of water back into the lake.
A
flash flood warning is in effect Tuesday after the spillway -- which
lets excess water out when the level gets too high -- suffered massive
damage over the weekend.
If the spillway fails, it could flood communities downstream with what one official warned could be a "30-foot wall of water."
Helicopters have been dropping bags of rocks into the gouged portion in an effort to plug the hole.
"Our
crews are working around the clock, 24/7, to try to get as much rock as
possible onto the damaged spillway before the next storms come," Cal Fire spokesman Josh Janssen said.
The lake water gushes into the emergency spillway when it reaches 901 feet. For now, officials are cautiously optimistic.
"We
have the lake level at 894 feet, but that number is sure to drop,"
Janssen said Tuesday. "The level was dropping about a foot every three
hours. But lakes are shaped like funnels, so we could see the water
level start to drop faster."
Another deluge to come
The
next wave of rainfall will come overnight Wednesday into Thursday, CNN
Senior Meteorologist Dave Hennen said. A series of storms will follow
and last through the weekend.
Rainfall over the next week
could total 5 to 12 inches and will likely push hundreds of billions of
water back into Lake Oroville, Hennen said.
Will that be enough to overwhelm the dam's spillways?
"The simple answer is we don't know, but that is the concern," Hennen said.
Mass exodus
The
spillway damage forced the evacuation of 188,000 people. Mandatory
evacuation orders remained in place Tuesday for Butte, Sutter and Yuba
counties.
There's no word yet on when those 188,000 people can return.
"I
recognize this has displaced a lot of people, and I recognize the
hardships it's created on our communities," Butte County Sheriff Kory
Honea said of the mandatory evacuations. "We did this because our
primary purpose is to ensure public safety."
He said officials were working on a plan to get people back home safely.
Sleeping in cars, riding out the evacuation
As
repairs continue, evacuees have gone to shelters, pitched tents in
parking lots and found makeshift arrangements for what could stretch for
days.
Pat and Keith Dailey, a couple from Yuba City, slept in their car with their four dogs at the Colusa County Fairgrounds.
"It was miserable," Pat Dailey told CNN affiliate KGO. "We didn't sleep. There was people walking and people talking all night long."
But they're staying put.
"We're kind of on the safe side," said her husband, Keith. "We won't go back, until they tell us it's safe."
California
Gov. Jerry Brown sought to assure residents during a press conference
Monday: "We're doing everything we can to get this dam in shape so
(evacuees]) can return and live safely without fear."
He said he had requested federal response aid.
Tallest dam in the US
The
Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the United States, provides flood
control for the region. The dam itself has no structural issues, but the
two spillways that release water from the lake to prevent overflow have
structural problems.
The main spillway, which is lined, or paved, has a hole almost the size of a football field and at least 40 feet deep.
It can't be fixed immediately and needs to be used through March, which
marks the end of what's been a very heavy rainy season.
It's
being used to drain the lake at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second
in an effort to reduce the water level. Normal flows down the main
spillway are about 55,000 cubic feet per second.
The
emergency spillway, which is an embankment covered with trees, is a
last resort and was used for the first time in its 48-year history on
Saturday. Lake water began washing into it this weekend and prompted the
evacuation order when officials noticed damage on the spillway.
How did we get here?
Questions
remain over how it got to this point at Lake Oroville. Why weren't more
efforts made to prevent spillway erosion after concerns were raised more than 10 years ago?
California Department of Water Resources Acting Director Bill Croyle said he was "not familiar with 2005 documentation or conversation" about spillway concerns and emphasized the efforts underway to understand the current dynamics of the dam.
"We're going to continue to work on the challenges we have," he said.
The governor defended the state's flood infrastructure Monday and said he welcomed "more scrutiny" as efforts continue.
Oroville as a ghost town
After
the evacuations, downtown Oroville remained a ghost town. Stores sat
dark and empty with sandbags stacked in front of doors. Empty gas
stations had yellow tape ringed around the pump to indicate there was no
more fuel.
All schools in Sutter and Yuba counties have been closed. Affected schools in Butte County are shut until Friday.
RaeLynn
Jones and her fiance, who had fled their Oroville apartment near
Feather River on Sunday, came back to their home Monday to pick up more
of their items.
She noted that her
building was unscathed, but at Feather River, the water level nearly
reached the treetops. Surrounding playgrounds, gazebos and sports fields
were completely submerged, she said.
Jones
is staying at her fiance's home, which is on higher ground. Nine people
and three dogs are sharing the house where they're riding out the
evacuation order. With everything closed, they're eating whatever is
left in the kitchen and snacks from the gas station. For now, all they
can do is wait.
Defying the evacuation
Others decided to stay put despite the evacuation order.
Brianne
Lawrence, who lives across from Feather River, brought her family back
after rushing out of town on Sunday and getting stuck in traffic.
She told CNN affiliate KRCR that she lives on a hill.
"It's going to have to come up probably, at least 10 times what it is now for us to be flooded," she said.
Her grandfather Brian Pulley is also staying put in nearby Thermalito.
"I'm ready to leave at any second," he told KRCR, "but I don't think the threat's that great at the moment."
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