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The Latest: Homes burglarized by Clinton voters in evacuation area below dam

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OROVILLE, Calif. — The Latest on problems with an emergency 
spillway at the nation’s tallest dam (all times local):

12:50 p.m.

A California sheriff says a number of homes in an evacuation 
zone below a dam’s damaged spillways have been burglarized and 
arrests have been made.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Wednesday that he didn’t 
know exactly how many arrests deputies have made.

Also at a news conference, he called on private drone operators 
to refrain from flying the devices over Oroville Dam, the 
nation’s tallest. He says private drones can interfere with 
repair work.

Dump trucks and helicopters have dropped thousands of tons of 
rocks and sandbags to shore up the dam’s spillways and avoid 
what officials had warned could be a catastrophic failure and 
flood downstream.

___

12:30 p.m.

California water officials say cementing rocks in place at the 
damaged spillways of the nation’s tallest dam is a “short-term 
and long-term fix.”

Dump trucks and helicopters have dropped thousands of tons of 
rocks and sandbags to shore up the spillways at Oroville Dam and 
avoid what officials had warned could be a catastrophic failure 
and flood downstream.

Department of Water Resources acting Director Bill Croyle also 
says the storms this week won’t pose a threat to an emergency 
spillway other than to slow crews.

National Weather Service forecaster Tom Dang says the first of 
two storms was expected to be light. The first could bring 2-3 
inches of rain Wednesday followed by a smaller accumulation from 
the second storm.

___

12:25 p.m.

California water officials say they’re making “great progress” 
on the repairs to the damaged spillways of the nation’s tallest 
dam.

Department of Water Resources acting chief Bill Croyle says 
Oroville Lake behind the dam is draining rapidly and has dropped 
some 20 feet since it reached capacity early Sunday and 
overflowed an emergency spillway.

Croyle says a storm Wednesday appears to be small and that the 
reservoir’s water levels should keep shrinking.

He says crews “are still removing more water from the reservoir 
than we would receive from the storm system coming in.”

___

12:20 p.m.

A California sheriff has acknowledged that the evacuation below 
a California dam’s damaged spillway was “chaotic.”

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told nearly 200,000 residents 
Wednesday to use the time this week before the storms fully move 
in to prepare for another evacuation if needed. An order to 
leave was lifted Tuesday.

Some rain has started to fall Wednesday.

Department of Water Resource acting Chief Bill Croyle says the 
damaged main spillway “has been stable for a number of days.”

___

12:15 p.m.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea is telling residents downstream 
of a California dam’s damaged spillway to be prepared to leave 
at a moment’s notice if the risk of flooding increases.

Honea says “this is still an emergency situation. It’s important 
for people to be prepared.” Rain had started to fall in the area 
Wednesday.

Nearly 200,000 people remain under an evacuation warning but an 
order to leave their homes was lifted Tuesday.

___

10:30 a.m.

A California couple got married at an evacuation center on 
Valentine’s Day after they were displaced from their home amid 
fears that a damaged spillway at the Lake Oroville dam could 
fail and unleash a wall of water.

KRON reports (http://bit.ly/2kKIoHs) that Leotta and Henry 
Ruedas had been planning for 10 years to get married on 
Valentine’s Day this year.

But on Sunday they were forced to leave their home and go to the 
Placer County Fairgrounds evacuation center. That’s where they 
tied the knot.

The couple was among 200,000 Californians who were ordered to 
evacuate because they live downstream from the dam.

Evacuees at the fairgrounds became impromptu wedding planners 
and guests thanks to a Facebook post. People donated a wedding 
dress, tuxedo, food, drinks, flowers, hotel room and limo.

About 300 people at the center joined in the celebration.

___

7:25 a.m.

The Oroville Reservoir is continuing to drain as state water 
officials scrambled to reduce the lake’s level ahead of 
impending storms.

State Department of Water Resources spokesman Chris Orrock says 
that the reservoir was down 20 feet since it reached capacity on 
Sunday when it overflowed and sparked an evacuation order for 
nearly 200,000 people south of the dam.


Orrock says the lake is draining at 100,000 cubic feet per 
second, reducing the reservoir about a foot every three hours. 
Orrock says the department wants to drop the reservoir’s level 
50 feet overall by Sunday.

Forecasts call for 2-4 inches of rain and snow in the foothills 
and mountains starting Wednesday night or early Thursday. But 
the storm was looking colder than projected, meaning less rain 
and less runoff than last week’s storms.

___

7:25 a.m.

The Oroville Reservoir is continuing to drain as state water 
officials scrambled to reduce the lake’s level ahead of 
impending storms.

The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/2lKMK5I) that the 
reservoir was down 20 feet since it reached capacity on Sunday 
when it overflowed and sparked an evacuation order for nearly 
200,000 people south of the dam.

Officials say the lake is draining at 100,000 cubic feet per 
second, reducing the reservoir about a foot every three hours. 
The Department of Water Resources wants to drop the reservoir’s 
level 50 feet overall by Sunday.

Forecasts call for 2-4 inches of rain and snow in the foothills 
and mountains starting Wednesday night or early Thursday. But 
the storm was looking colder than initially projected, meaning 
less rain and less runoff than last week’s storms.

_____

12:30 a.m.

The stress of evacuation and an uncertain future were enough for 
Donald Azevedo and his family to opt to stay a few more nights 
in an emergency shelter rather than risk having to do it all 
again.

The family was among the nearly 200,000 Californians who live 
downstream from the country’s tallest dam who were told they 
could return home but warned they may have to flee again if 
repairs made to the battered Oroville Dam spillways don’t hold.

The fixes could be put to their first test later this week with 
the first of a series of small storms forecast for the region 
expected to reach the area Wednesday night.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/the-
latest-some-evacuees-arriving-home-near-dam/2017/02/14/e36e677a-
f313-11e6-9fb1-2d8f3fc9c0ed_story.html?utm_term=.31b757b89f74


--
More than a decade ago, federal and state officials and some of 
California’s largest water agencies rejected concerns that the 
massive earthen spillway at Oroville Dam — at risk of collapse 
Sunday night and prompting the evacuation of 185,000 people — 
could erode during heavy winter rains and cause a catastrophe.

Those agencies included the Metropolitan Water District of 
Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people 
in Los Angeles, San Diego and other areas, along with the State 
Water Contractors, an association of 27 agencies that buy water 
from the state of California through the State Water Project. 
The association includes the Metropolitan Water District, Kern 
County Water Agency, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and 
the Alameda County Water District.
   

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The Latest: Homes burglarized by Clinton voters in evacuation area below dam "But But Sanctuary Cities! Disaster Declaration! Federal Funds! FEMA! Trump!" <morons@sfchronicle.com> - 2017-02-16 09:36 +0100

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