“THIS IS NOT A DRILL”: Spillway at tallest US dam in California about to collapse, immediate evacuation ordered

Thousands of people have been fleeing California towns below the overflowing Oroville Dam after fears of an imminent collapse of its emergency spillway prompted an evacuation order. Authorities are seeking to stem the breach with the help of helicopters.

“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,” says the statement posted on the Butte County Sheriff’s Facebook page.

The statement refers to the Lake Oroville Dam, located 105 km (65 miles) north of Sacramento.

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).

‘THIS IS NOT A DRILL’: Residents in areas of Oroville, Calif. ordered to evacuate as dam is predicted to failpic.twitter.com/b49uOFvDDt

— Breaking911 Nature (@B911Nature) February 13, 2017

“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.

Evacuation shelter for residents evacuated from #Oroville located at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. 2357 Fair St, Chico #spillway

— Butte County, CA (@CountyofButte) February 13, 2017

Thousands of people from Yuba County and Sutter County have been filmed being evacuated from local towns and communities, with vehicles creating long traffic jams.

More video from @kcranews #OrovilleDam #OrovilleSpillway pic.twitter.com/jSTOP85u5f

— King Zombie (@TotalZombie) February 13, 2017

This is what Marysville looks like right now as people try to evacuate #Orovilledam pic.twitter.com/3k7jR5ByCV

— Tom Miller (@KCRAMiller) February 13, 2017

DWR issued a statement, saying that there is no danger that the dam itself will collapse, as the incident had affected only an emergency spillway.

“Oroville Dam itself is sound and is a separate structure from the auxiliary spillway,” the statement read.

The emergency is the first time in the 48-year-old dam’s history that an uncontrolled spillway is being used, local NBC affiliate KCRA-TV reported.

6:08pm: #OrovilleDam itself is not compromised at current time. Failure would be on auxiliary spillway. See graphic for details. pic.twitter.com/LSxCwsthxC

— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) February 13, 2017

Heavy rains and snow that struck California this winter have resulted in the dam’s reservoir being filled up to the point of overspill. On Thursday, the works to release water from the dam began after chunks of concrete from the spillway were discovered in the channel below.

On Friday, only 7 feet (2 meters) were left until the dam was to reach its full capacity.

#OrovilleSpillway #OrovilleDam just now pic.twitter.com/boWzCPoi1L

— Judy Brandt (@judywbrandt) February 13, 2017

The DWR has been using the emergency spillway instead of the damaged one to release the water.

Day 4 – You can’t see the spillway, water is raging off the side and racing toward the river #OrovilleDam @GoodDaySac @CBSSacramento pic.twitter.com/XhBaws8x5V

— Sean Bennett (@tvseanb) February 10, 2017

Meanwhile, a series of statements from the DWR included a seemingly bizarre plan to fill in the widening gorge in the spillway by dropping rocks from helicopters.

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