Calgary Officials Prepare For The Worst In Oroville Dam Crisis | HuffPost Impact - Action.News ABC Action News WestNet-HD Weather Traffic

The lake once used as a bellwether for Californias devastating drought is now at the center of a major flooding threat.

Nearly 200,000 people have evacuated the area surrounding Northern Californias overflowing Oroville Dam, where officials were working rapidly Monday to remove 50 feet of water and stabilize spillways.

Helicopters arrived to drop sacks of rocks into crevices that formed in the main and emergency spillways of the nations tallest dam, though thats only a temporary solution. It remains to be seen when authorities will be able to properly repair the compromised dam and allow residents to return to the area.

The main spillway which operators use to control the flow of water from the manmade Lake Oroville into the Feather River began eroding last week following heavy rains that filled the lake to capacity, requiring the use of a second, emergency spillway for the first time since its construction.

By Sunday evening, officials had detected erosion in both spillways as water began pouring over onto the hillside and dragging trees and mud into the Feather River, which runs near downtown Oroville. Officials ordered about 188,000 residents of Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties to evacuate amid concern that the emergency spillway could completely collapse and send a 30-foot-high wall of water toward downstream towns.

Tonight's briefing from state officials on the #OrovilleSpillway is archived on our YouTube channel right here: https://t.co/Mu0oZWfVb8

Cal OES (@Cal_OES) February 13, 2017","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Cal OES","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Cal_OES","cache_age":86400,"description":"Tonight's briefing from state officials on the #OrovilleSpillway is archived on our YouTube channel right here: https://t.co/Mu0oZWfVb8— Cal OES (@Cal_OES) February 13, 2017\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Cal OES on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/Cal_OES/status/831058816812789761","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"58a1e288e4b094a129ed6fa2","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/oroville-dam-crisis_n_58a1e288e4b094a129ed6fa2","entryTagsList":"us-news,california,floods,oroville-dam,lake-oroville,@applenews,@genassign,@health_depression,@health_ibs,@health_models","sectionSlug":"green","deptSlug":"impact","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"politics,san-francisco","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.green","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":14},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"58a1e288e4b094a129ed6fa2","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/us-news","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/us-news","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/us-news"},"relegenceSubjectId":981465,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"World News","slug":"world-news"},"topic":{"title":"United States","slug":"united-states","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/united-states"},{"name":"California","slug":"california","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/california","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/california","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/california"},"relegenceId":3448007,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"California","slug":"california","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/california"},{"name":"Floods","slug":"floods","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/floods","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/floods","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/floods"},"relegenceSubjectId":979716,"department":{"name":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"section":{"title":"Environment","slug":"green"},"topic":{"title":"Floods","slug":"floods","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/impact/topic/floods"},{"name":"oroville dam","slug":"oroville-dam","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/oroville-dam","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/oroville-dam","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/oroville-dam"},"relegenceId":3557735,"url":"https://action.news/topic/oroville-dam"},{"name":"Lake Oroville","slug":"lake-oroville","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/lake-oroville","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/lake-oroville","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/lake-oroville"},"relegenceId":3608945,"url":"https://action.news/topic/lake-oroville"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">

Tonight's briefing from state officials on the #OrovilleSpillway is archived on our YouTube channel right here: https://t.co/Mu0oZWfVb8
Cal OES (@Cal_OES) February 13, 2017

That much water could be disastrous, experts warn.

You look at 30 feet times the area of the reservoir, which has a surface of about 25 square miles, said University of California, Berkeley, civil engineering professor Nicholas Sitar. That is how much water is going to come out. That is a huge volume of water, he told The Sacramento Bee .

While the emergency spillway has not overflowed and remains functional, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea stood by his decision to evacuate the area.

I recognize and absolutely appreciate the frustration people who were evacuated must feel, Honea said at a press conference Monday afternoon. It wasnt a decision I made lightly.

Most schools were closed Monday morning as residents cleared the area and headed to evacuation centers at churches, fairgrounds, campgrounds and an Air Force base.

California has been battered with three atmospheric river storm systems since the start of the year. With rain expected to return Wednesday and continue for several days, emergency responders are working to drain at least 50 feet of water from the lake to relieve pressure on the spillways.

Login