Nature & Environment
'Oroville Dam Damaged': The US Tallest Dam Could Release Large Amounts Of Floodwaters
Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Feb 14, 2017 03:50 AM EST
Officials ordered more than 180,000 people in northern California to evacuate because the Oroville Dam was damaged. The two overflow channels of the U.S. tallest dam were marred and might cause spilling of large amounts of floodwater.
Officials said that the 770 feet (230 meters) high Oroville Dam is not itself at risk of collapsing. On the other hand, its emergency spillway was close to caving in. They also feared that the damaged spillway could release large amounts of floodwater downstream, according to BBC News.
Meanwhile, the excess water has now stopped flowing, yet the officials said that the evacuation orders remained in place. The concrete emergency spillway of Oroville Dam has broken, resulting to a 60-meter-long and about 9-meter-deep hole a few days ago. The cause of it is unclear yet. On the other hand, there was this heavy rainfall that poured down, and the engineers were forced to release large amounts of water from Lake Oroville. The dam was releasing about 100,000 cubic feet per second, which made the crack bigger and might likely to collapse in recent days, according to Science Alert.
The officials said that the collapse is only expected to affect the structure of the emergency spillway and not the Oroville Dam itself, which is about 230 meters high. The Butte County Sheriff Honea's Department said that the operation of the auxiliary spillway has led to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure. It is further said that the failure of the auxiliary spillway structure will result in an uncontrolled release of floodwaters from Lake Oroville.
Meanwhile, the officials stood on their decision to evacuate the residents near the dam rather than risk thousands of lives. They are now being relocated and even many hotels are fully booked in the wider area. As of these times, there are no orders yet when they will be allowed to get back to their homes. The authorities are still evaluating the risks.
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First Posted: Feb 14, 2017 03:50 AM EST
Officials ordered more than 180,000 people in northern California to evacuate because the Oroville Dam was damaged. The two overflow channels of the U.S. tallest dam were marred and might cause spilling of large amounts of floodwater.
Officials said that the 770 feet (230 meters) high Oroville Dam is not itself at risk of collapsing. On the other hand, its emergency spillway was close to caving in. They also feared that the damaged spillway could release large amounts of floodwater downstream, according to BBC News.
Meanwhile, the excess water has now stopped flowing, yet the officials said that the evacuation orders remained in place. The concrete emergency spillway of Oroville Dam has broken, resulting to a 60-meter-long and about 9-meter-deep hole a few days ago. The cause of it is unclear yet. On the other hand, there was this heavy rainfall that poured down, and the engineers were forced to release large amounts of water from Lake Oroville. The dam was releasing about 100,000 cubic feet per second, which made the crack bigger and might likely to collapse in recent days, according to Science Alert.
The officials said that the collapse is only expected to affect the structure of the emergency spillway and not the Oroville Dam itself, which is about 230 meters high. The Butte County Sheriff Honea's Department said that the operation of the auxiliary spillway has led to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure. It is further said that the failure of the auxiliary spillway structure will result in an uncontrolled release of floodwaters from Lake Oroville.
Meanwhile, the officials stood on their decision to evacuate the residents near the dam rather than risk thousands of lives. They are now being relocated and even many hotels are fully booked in the wider area. As of these times, there are no orders yet when they will be allowed to get back to their homes. The authorities are still evaluating the risks.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone