OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) – Officials have ordered residents near one of the nation’s biggest dams in Northern California to evacuate the area, saying a “hazardous situation is developing” after an emergency spillway severely eroded.
The emergency spillway of the Oroville Dam could fail within an hour unleashing uncontrolled flood waters from Lake Oroville, the California Department of Water Resources said on Sunday afternoon.
People in downstream areas need to leave the area immediately, the department said.
Residents of Oroville, a town of 16,000 people, should head north toward Chico, and other cities should follow orders from their local law enforcement agencies, the Butte County Sheriff’s office said.
Water began flowing over the emergency spillway at dam on Saturday for the first time in its nearly 50-year history after heavy rainfall.