Oroville Dam spillway damage
 

Some pretty incredible video of the largest dam in California/USA and the potential problems that could happen. We have some friends that live near Sacramento so hopefully, they are above the flood plain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3x4r7jmD9Y

Wow! That's some good footage. Thanks for posting that.

Here's a good read that helps explain what's going on at Oroville.

https://letsgola.wordpress.com/2017/...-introduction/

Oroville damn now expected to fail evacuations underway.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/cal...132332499.html

That is...not good. 100 feet deep in some places?

Fingers crossed it doesn't give way.

This chap on youtube is streaming KCRA and KRCR, pardon the name and stuff, but it's a good stream so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzKVdSnPmg

KCRC streaming here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF3j82YEsTo

My niece lives just south of Yubba City, she's on her way to Sacramento. I'm guessing she is going to get stuck in the interstate traffic. I wish I was there.

At least if it's coming down the emergency slipway, even if it's uncontrolled, it's taking pressure off the dam itself, so hopefully although there's going to be a bit of localised flooding along the river the actual dam itself will hold fast.

From the reports I've seen the issue is that the flow over the emergency spillway is itself causing erosion of what is basically an unprotected surface, and if that gets bad enough it could fail there: which is why they are ordering evacuations.

They have any pets? Just saw two girls with six pets between them heading down to a hotel in Sacramento on KCRA. They were at a gas station at Plumas lake. Glad to see that they're putting in place areas where people can take their animals and they're making lists so that people know which ones to go to.

Yeah, I've just seen similar reports, talking about the potential for a thirty foot hole in the emergency spillway area which is going to let a lot of water out from the lake.

Apparently they're planning on dropping some rocks into the gap at daylight tomorrow to try and control things a bit more.

Acting, are you anywhere near this?

I think he's closer to the coastline, hence his need to frequently rearrange his household when the San Andreas coughs.

lookin' on the bright side!
 

Ongoing close to home along the greasy green banks of the Rio Napa:
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...ize=1200%2C800and a thousand yards to the west-two giant redwood trees with mudslide: http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...ize=1200%2C800 Just to the North and very similar to what I drove through on Tuesday's initial storm at 0000 hrs high tide...doesn't look so bad in the day time!:http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...ize=1200%2C800 http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2464181&postcount=499 NOTE: just drove this route again today for work from San Francisco with some detours (40 extra miles) around still closed roadways; still wet but passable till the next weather front hits. But that's just all local soggy tactics; the statewide agricultural strategy is: the drought is over BBY!(in the Northern state any way!):yeah:Bottom line: all 2 the long-term good if a not an expensive pain in the ass! With the horrendous fires (CobbMtn/Middletown-50 sq. miles 1200 homes etc) and quakes... this is the lesser of three evils and California is the world's 6th large$t economy...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_between_U.S._states_and_countries_by_GD P_(nominal) And no one's dead yet:up: EDIT as of 22:15 on live news : the community of Oroville has just been ordered evacuated. 156,000 people gotta go quick. http://www.trbimg.com/img-589f8333/t...28/750/750x422RULE ONE OF BIG DAM integrity: do not have a sinkhole in your spillwayhttp://www.trbimg.com/img-589de180/t...02/750/750x422

From what I've been reading, it sounds like the dam's integrity is still okay. The possible problem is the emergency spillway and the erosion that might work its way back to it. If that did let go, it would be about 30 feet of the dams contents being released which is still enough of a worry to justify the evacuation. At any rate, it looks like the main spillways flow rate being increased to 100,000cfs has lowered the lake level enough to stop the flow over the emergency spillway. Hopefully the worst is over but more rain in the forecast could see this situation escalate again.

the wall of water estimated will be 30 feet high.
 

Seems to be lots of finger pointing going on already about why the flow rate wasn't increased sooner but the circumstances are reminding me of what we went through in June/2013 here in Calgary/Southern Alberta. We had much higher than usual rainfall in the mountains but the real problem was the snowpack being melted and the ground still being frozen enough that the mountains simply couldn't absorb enough of it. What seemed to be a higher than normal spring run-off situation quickly escalated out of control. I believe it worked out to a 500-year flood event.