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World|life|February 13, 2017 / 02:48 PM
Evacuations ordered over concerns at California dam system

AKIPRESS.COM - At least 188,000 people have been evacuated from several Northern California counties after damage to a spillway at the Oroville Dam, reports CNN

The dam, which is the nation's highest, remains intact. But the emergency spillway, which helps to ensure that the water does not rush over the top of the dam when levels are high, was eroding Sunday.

The erosion prompted concerns that it could endanger the communities living downstream and evacuation orders were made for cities and counties near Lake Oroville, which remain in effect.

"I would rather be safe than sorry. I would rather have people move out of the area hopefully to safety," Sheriff Kory Honea said.

California Governor Jerry Brown also issued a state emergency order to help local authorities with the emergency situation and the evacuations.

Around 3 p.m. local time (6 p.m. ET), authorities learned that the dam's emergency spillway -- which has been in use since the primary spillway was recently damaged - had a hole in it and was eroding, the sheriff said.

It's possible that crisis could be averted, however, because the California Department of Water Resources told Honea that the erosion "was not advancing as rapidly as they thought."

A plan is currently in place to employ helicopters to drop rocks into a crevice atop the erosion, which would plug the hole, he said.As of about 6:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. ET), about 2 inches of water was coming over the spillway, which was down significantly from when authorities first issued the evacuation orders.DWR officials expect the flow to soon stop entirely, which will reduce the pace of erosion.

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