California requests USD440M for flood control after dam crisis

LOS ANGELES - California's governor announced Friday a $437 million plan for flood control and emergency response following a recent crisis in which the tallest dam in the United States nearly failed, causing massive evacuations.

Almost 200,000 people fled their homes more than a week ago after flooding and increased water levels at the Oroville Dam in northern California prompted authorities to channel excess water down an emergency spillway, which quickly began eroding and created a potentially catastrophic situation for residents below.

"Recent storms have pounded the state of California resulting in a dam spillway eroding, roads crumbling and levees failing," Governor Jerry Brown said.

He asked the state legislature to approve $387 million for use from a water infrastructure fund in addition to $50 million from a state general fund.

"Our aging infrastructure is maxed out. We can take some immediate actions -- and we will -- but going forward we'll need billions more in investment," Brown said.

The governor already secured federal resources to repair the dam, which was built in 1968 and is the tallest in the United States at 770 feet (235 meters).

Although evacuation orders were lifted after two days, authorities have put area residents on warning that they may need to leave the area again, as heavy rains lash the region after years of drought.

President Donald Trump cleared the path to release federal aid for the dam after a request from Brown, who had already declared a state of emergency to mobilize local resources.

Calling the situation a "textbook example of why we need to pursue a major infrastructure package in Congress," White House spokesman Sean Spicer stressed that the nation's dams, bridges, roads and ports have "fallen into disrepair."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Some Fil-Ams heed mandatory evacuations as dam threatens flooding

YUBA CITY, California - Filipino-American Plen Brion received a mandatory emergency evacuation order at his Pluma Lake home on Sunday afternoon, after the emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam began to erode, threatening to flood communities.

The spillway guards against the dam’s overflow when water levels are high.

Complying with the message, Brion was among some 188,000 people who evacuated from several Northern California counties.

On Monday, Brion briefly returned to his home to pick up his medication.

“As you can see from this place the house is not clean the dishes are still in the sink… because we just left because it was an emergency!” Brion said.

Brion and his family have lived in their home for the past decade. He said he never expected something like this could happen.

“Flood insurance wasn’t mandatory anymore because they just upgraded the levees. But right now, the levees are kind of high with water,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Yuba City, Ed Hernandez and his family decided to stay than evacuate from their home Sunday night.

“As a Filipino, I’m used to a flood and I know that during a flood, we can still swim outside the house and I want to experience it in America,” Hernandez said in jest.

“We know that it takes time for the water to come down from the dam,” he said. “My kids would like to go right away, and my eldest son was at the Kings game last night…he was telling me that he would go to Stockton, but his mom told him to come home,” Hernandez added.

The Hernandez family spent the night together watching for updates about the dam.

“We kept seeing the numbers decline as the hours [went on]… so we ended up staying,” said Kenneth Hernandez. “But a lot of our friends, a lot of our neighbors, did go to other cities and evacuated.”

The Oroville Dam, America’s tallest dam, remains intact. Officials say water is no longer flowing over the emergency spillway, and lake levels are continuing to fall.

But evacuations continue, as officials try to make repairs before new storms hit later in the week.

Read more on Balitang America.

source:  news.abs-cbn.com

Nearly 200,000 people told to flee crumbling California dam spillway

OROVILLE, California - Evacuation orders for nearly 200,000 people living below the tallest dam in the United States remained in place early on Monday after residents were abruptly told to flee when a spillway appeared in danger of collapse.

Authorities issued the evacuation order on Sunday, saying that a crumbling emergency spillway on Lake Oroville Dam in north California could give way and unleash floodwaters onto rural communities along the Feather River.

"Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered," the Butte County sheriff said in a statement posted on social media.

The California Department of Water Resources said on Twitter at about 4:30 p.m. PST (0030 GMT Monday) that the spillway next to the dam was "predicted to fail within the next hour."

Several hours later the situation appeared less dire, as the damaged spillway remained standing.

The state water resources department said crews using helicopters would drop rocks to fill a huge gouge, and authorities were releasing water to lower the lake's level after weeks of heavy rains in the drought-plagued state.

By 10 p.m., state and local officials said the immediate danger had passed with water no longer flowing over the eroded spillway. But they cautioned that the situation remained unpredictable.

"Once you have damage to a structure like that it's catastrophic," acting Water Resources director Bill Croyle told reporters. But he stressed "the integrity of the dam is not impacted" by the damaged spillway.

Asked about the evacuation order, Croyle said "It was a tough call to make." He added: "It was the right call to make."

'DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH'

Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea told an earlier news briefing he was told by experts that the hole forming in the spillway could compromise the structure. Rather than risk thousands of lives, the decision was made to order evacuations.

Officials said they feared the damaged spillway could unleash a 30-foot wall of water on Oroville, north of the state capital Sacramento.

They said evacuation orders remained in place for some 188,000 people in Oroville, Yuba County, Butte County, Marysville and nearby communities and would be re-evaluated at dawn.

The Yuba County Office of Emergency Services urged evacuees to travel only to the east, south or west. "DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE," the department warned on Twitter.

Evacuation centers were set up at a fairgrounds in Chico, California, about 20 miles northwest of Oroville, but major highways leading south out of the area were jammed as residents fled the flood zone and hotels quickly filled up.

Javier Santiago, 42, fled with his wife, two children and several friends to the Oroville Dam Visitors Center in a public park above the dam and the danger zone.

With blankets, pillows and a little food, Santiago said: "We're going to sleep in the car."

The Oroville dam is nearly full following winter storms that brought relief to the state after four years of drought. Water levels were less than 7 feet (2 meters) from the top of the dam on Friday.

State authorities and engineers on Thursday began releasing water from the dam after noticing that large chunks of concrete were missing from a spillway.

California Governor Jerry Brown asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday to declare the area a major disaster due to flooding and mudslides brought on by the storms.

The earthfill dam is just upstream and east of Oroville, a city of more than 16,000 people.

At 770 feet (230 meters) high, the structure, built between 1962 and 1968, is the tallest U.S. dam, exceeding the Hoover Dam by more than 40 feet (12 meters).

source: news.abs-cbn.com