Officials evacuate 180000 near Oroville Dam in California

The potential failure of California’s Oroville Dam – which caused almost 200,000 people to flee their homes late Sunday – is further proof that the punishing five-year drought in the northern part of the state is over. Almost 200,000 people in Marysville, Yuba, Butte and Sutter counties were told to leave on Sunday after authorities said the dam could unleash floodwaters along the Feather River, which runs through the area.

Honea also said that the county meant to plug the hole in the dam by dropping sandbags and stones in it with a helicopter.

Government officials are now racing against the clock to plug a massive crack in the emergency runoff structure using sandbags and rocks dropped from helicopters. “She called 911, and 911 said they weren’t sending anybody else out”. If the dam collapses, water would get into Oroville within an hour.

With blankets, pillows and a little food, Santiago said: “We’re going to sleep in the auto”. “As many 25,000 rescue workers have been put into service, and youngsters associated with gurdwaras in the region are also making preparations to provide all possible help to evacuees, irrespective of their ethnicity”, said Bains.

Tens of thousands of people remain separated from their homes as engineers try to ensure there will be no repeat of the panic. The report Sunday said three environmental groups warned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the vulnerability of the hillside emergency spillway.

Recent heavy rain and snowmelt saw Lake Oroville rise to unprecedented levels, initiating the emergency overflow spillway for the first time since the dam’s construction in 1968. Late Sunday, officials noted that water levels had lowered enough that water was no longer spilling over the eroded area.

Mr Lawson stressed that there was no danger of the entire dam collapsing. “The water had no where else to go but over the spillways”.

Butte county sheriff Koney Honea said authorities wanted to get people moving quickly to save lives in case “the worst-case scenario came into fruition”.

He added that no decision had been made as to when people would be allowed back into their homes, as the authorities were still assessing the risks. The maximum release rate is about 150,000 cubic feet per second, though officials are reluctant to release water down the main spillway at that rate because of the risk of structural damage.

“It highlights the need for a very comprehensive dam safety program”, said Jim Hopson, TVA spokesperson.

“This is a new, never-happened-before event”, said Bill Croyle the acting director with the Department of Water Resources.

Mr Croyle said he expected the storms to be smaller, adding that more water was now leaving the lake than entering it.

The dam itself has not been damaged.

Officials hoped to avoid using Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway, fearing it could cause trees to fall and leave debris cascading into water that rushes through the Feather River, into the Sacramento River and on to the San Francisco Bay.