New Delhi:
California has ordered immediate evacuations for all people below the levels of Oroville, California, and several areas downstream from Lake Oroville which is feared to be in danger of imminent collapse.
“Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered,†the Butte County Sheriff said in a statement posted on the Butte County Sheriff’s Facebook page. “This in NOT A Drill. This in NOT A Drill. This in NOT A Drill. â€
A hazardous situation has developed with the Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway.
The operation of the auxiliary spillway has lead to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure. Failure of the auxiliary spillway structure will result in an uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.
USA: Emergency evacuation of Yuba City & areas in Sutton County as there is danger that the damaged Oroville Dam could burst.
— ANI (@ANI_news) February 13, 2017
USA: Large population in areas being evacuated is that of Indian origin Americans, appx 13% is of Punjabis/Sikhs #YubaCity #OrovilleDam
— ANI (@ANI_news) February 13, 2017
The California Department of Water Resources took to Twitter at about 4:30 p.m. PST that the spillway was "predicted to fail within the next hour."
State authorities and engineers began releasing water from the Lake Oroville Dam some 65 miles (105 km) north of Sacramento on Thursday after large chunks of concrete went missing from a spillway.
The tallest dam in the United States is at 770 feet (230 meters) high, the structure, built between 1962 and 1968, besting the famed Hoover Dam by more than 40 feet (12 meters).
Just talked to an Oroville police officer who tells us two stores have been looted as a result of #OrovilleDam evacuations
— Tom Miller (@KCRAMiller) February 13, 2017
