Trouble at Oroville.

[JasonB]

http://www.kcra.com/article/water-release-causes-damage-at-oroville-dam/8687944
Yikes!!!

[Gene S]

Wow! This could become a major problem.

[JasonB]

Lots more photos coming out, this is getting pretty impressive, and scary!

http://media.chicoer.com/2017/02/09/photos-lake-oroville-dam-spillway-crumbles-thursday/#7

[Morgan]

Damn water is an impressive sight to see!
I sure hope they get this issue bandaged. Thoughts go out to those in harms way.
Good luck!

[bigfly]

They had the release at 55,000cfs, and this morning I heard it was going to 65,000....
They have to balance inflow, with out flow....otherwise it could overtop the dam.
Have lots of safety folks up there, and say there is no danger....
We will see.....

Jim

[Darian]

If I heard correctly, KCRA reported that there's a second, "emergency" spill area that can be used if necessary to keep the lake from overtopping the dam. The photo's on last nights broadcast look like the entire lower part of the spillway will have to be replaced....

[ycflyfisher]

This has become pretty scary. They're pushing more water through the LF as of yesterday afternoon than I've seen since 1997. The level was scary, the VELOCITY even more so. It's ripping.

I'm hearing that they're potentially moving the timeline up for when the res crests the emergency overflow from midday Sat to tonight. I'd consider that gossip at this point.

I did see two guys heading down to fish the lake at the base of the dam yesterday only to be turned away by a BCS. Gotta give 'em points for trying.

Everyone in Oroville and the YS area (where we've had 2 levy break floods in the last 31 years) is scared shitless at this point.

Darian, The emergency overflow that you mentioned is where they've been clearing trees and debris so it doesn't get swept away and potentially batter on of the downstream bridges.

[Mark Kranhold]

Some more pics....

12677

12678

[Terry Thomas]

8:15 and the flow is going over the emergency overflow.

[gitt]

Evacuation ordered for folks living downstream.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Lake-Oroville-discharging-water-over-dam-s-10926950.php

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is on the TV news here in Florida tonight.......

[JasonB]

Wow! I really hope that everyone is able to reach safety. Sounds like complete chaos in how things were handled. We're very lucky that we don't have another major front coming through right now, they need to get that lake down a LOT lower.

[Dave E.]

It sounds like some of the members of this community may have gotten the evacuation order.

I use to live in Yuba City and I know Tony Buzolich did or does.

Anybody know how they are doing, or if they need some kind of assistance?

Bill,

Maybe get a check-in thread going for our peeps...

Dave Ecklund

[PV_Premier]

I flew in late last night SLC-SMF and watching out the plane window to see traffic streaming down Hwy70/99, and westbound on 20 out of YC/M-ville was amazing. Just a steady thread of white and red lights like what you'd see in LA or NYC at rush hour and this was at 11pm, 6 hours after the evac order was entered. Terrible situation and I keep all those in the Feather River basin in my thoughts.

Even here in Sacramento the river and bypass watershed is markedly higher today with the increased flux down the Feather. We really need a break but sounds like more of the same coming later this week and again next week.

[Dave E.]

A couple of days old, but look at all that dirty water.

12704

[winxp_man]

Would have been a crazy sight in the valley before the westerners started coming to North America when storms like this came through.

[JasonB]

Would have been a crazy sight in the valley before the westerners started coming to North America when storms like this came through.

I've pondered the same thing many times, same with the Willamette Valley where I grew up in Oregon. These great valleys would have been just full of water at times. Of course at some point in time each and every one of these dams will likely return to dust. Not one of them can last forever.

[roywest]

In "Up and Down California" Brewer describes a wet winter in the mid 1860s creating an inland sea of the central valley and surf breaking up farm houses...