130,000 near California dam told to flee

OROVILLE, Calif. — Thousands evacuated their Northern California homes Sunday evening after authorities warned that an emergency spillway in the country’s tallest dam was in danger of failing and unleashing uncontrolled floodwaters on towns below.

About 150 miles northeast of San Francisco, Lake Oroville is one of California’s largest man-made lakes, and the 770-foot-tall Oroville Dam is the nation’s tallest. At least 130,000 people were asked to evacuate. Officials with the California Department of Water Resources said Oroville Lake levels had decreased by Sunday night as they let water flow from its heavily damaged main spillway but noted that water was still spilling over the dam.

The cities of Oroville, Gridley, Live Oak, Marysville, Wheatland, Yuba City, Plumas Lake and Olivehurst were all under evacuation orders.

The evacuation order went out about 6 p.m. Central time after engineers spotted a hole that was eroding back toward the top of the spillway. Butte County Sheriff Koney Honea said there is a plan to plug the hole by using helicopters to drop rocks into the crevasse.

Water began flowing over the emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam on Saturday for the first time in its nearly 50-year history after heavy rainfall. Officials earlier Sunday stressed that the dam itself was structurally sound and said there was no threat to the public.