CALIFORNIA: Authorities have evacuated thousands of residents in Northern California on Sunday evening after the local department of water resources warned that an emergency spillway of the Oroville Dam was in danger of failing and discharging uncontrolled water on areas below.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Oroville Dam is 770 feet tall, the country’s tallest reservoir, and is built on one of the largest man-made lakes, Lake Oroville, located in California.
#OrovilleSpillway #OrovilleDam pic.twitter.com/qUghUENqkT
— Judy Brandt (@judywbrandt) February 13, 2017
In an evacuation order issued at 4:00 p.m. in the evening, local authorities have asked around 130,000 residents to evacuate in Gridley, Wheat land, Olivehurst, Oroville, Plumas Lake, Maryville, Yuba City, Live Oak and other areas. The move comes after engineers of the water resource noticed a hole on the top of emergency spillway.
Our special correspondent at the scene saw cars reported that hundreds of vehicles were in bumper to bumper, moving at snail’s pace on roads.
Meanwhile, authorities late Sunday said that the bags of rocks will be used to plug the hole on the top of the emergency spillway. They also said that water level at the Lake Oroville will also be brought down.
