An immediate evacuation of all people below the damaged huge Oroville dam, has been ordered by the sheriff in Butte County, California on Monday, Feb. 13 morning, Reuters reports.
It is feared to be in danger of imminent collapse according to the report. Butte County Sheriff Facebook statement said: “Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered. This is NOT A Drill. This is NOT A Drill. This in NOT A Drill.”
The Oroville Dam in northern California is the tallest with a 770-foot (230 m) embankment dam completed in 1968. Five of the ten highest dams in the U.S. are located in California.
“DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE,” the Yuba County Office of Emergency Services said on Facebook, urging evacuees to travel safely in all other directions and help the elderly.
The dam’s spillway was “predicted to fail within the next hour,” the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said at around 4:30pm PST Sunday (00:30 GMT Monday).