'Potentially Catastrophic': Tens of Thousands Evacuated Amid Dam Spillway Failure - NBC News
...Tens of thousands of people in at least half a dozen Northern California towns and cities were evacuated on Sunday after a spillway serving the country's tallest dam suffered "potentially catastrophic damage," officials said.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters that a hole formed in an emergency spillway in the Oroville Dam, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Authorities began using the emergency spillway after a 200-foot long, 30-foot-deep hole formed in the dam's primary relief valve last week, NBC Bay Area reported.
"There was concern that it would compromise the integrity of the spillway, resulting in a substantial release of water," he said. "The time frame that we were dealing with at that point was mere hours. I couldn't risk the lives of thousands of people."...
...Tens of thousands of people in at least half a dozen Northern California towns and cities were evacuated on Sunday after a spillway serving the country's tallest dam suffered "potentially catastrophic damage," officials said.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told reporters that a hole formed in an emergency spillway in the Oroville Dam, about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Authorities began using the emergency spillway after a 200-foot long, 30-foot-deep hole formed in the dam's primary relief valve last week, NBC Bay Area reported.
"There was concern that it would compromise the integrity of the spillway, resulting in a substantial release of water," he said. "The time frame that we were dealing with at that point was mere hours. I couldn't risk the lives of thousands of people."...
