In California, it’s water, water everywhere, as deadly storms lash area
This week, nearly 200,000 Californians were evacuated because an emergency spillway was damaged at Lake Oroville in Northern California. At 770 feet tall, Oroville Dam is the tallest in the U.S. and is in danger of overflowing as massive snowpacks begin to melt. Workers have rushed to fix the damaged embankment. But the damaged Oroville Dam was just the beginning of California’s flood fears this week. The biggest rainstorm in years barreled through Southern California, leaving at least four dead. The storm, which packed hurricane-force winds, caused flooding on multiple freeways, triggered dramatic mudslides and downed hundreds of trees and power lines. A sinkhole opened in the Los Angeles area large enough to almost swallow two cars. The frequent winter and rain storms are taking a toll on the state’s infrastructure Parched for the past five years, California now finds itself in some area with too much water. Although the state government has not officially declared the drought over, the winter rains and accumulated snow in the Sierra have given California water reserves not seen in years. The state’s system or reservoirs, another key source of water during the dry season, are also at levels not seen in years. They are 22 percent more full than average, according to the California Department of Water Resources.