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Oroville Dam situation: evacuation order lifted, spillway repair underway
- Thread starter Cosmo Clock 21
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Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
It has great potential to be extremely bad. People in the evacuation areas must evacuate, this could get very lethal really quickly.
Thing is... it's just dirt there. Water starts going over that in a large amount that hillside can disappear...
Kadin
Member
Watching KCRA live right now and they're saying that the emergency spillway *should* no longer have water running over in a couple hours based on their quick math but then that's when officials will need to get in and inspect the erosion. So yeah my hope that in a few hours all is clear, was... dumb.
Yeah the fact that they've opened the main spillway isn't a good sign. That hill is going to take a ton of damage from this.
Hundreds of megalitres at least.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Yes. and many of those river systems head right to Sacramento, which is second only to New Orleans for being the most flood-prone city in the US due to all the levees.
It's not supposed to rain until late Weds I believe, so they have a few more days of dry weather to try and repair as much as they can.
GoldenEye 007
Member
According to this, you are under an evacuation order.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132332499.html
It already has. The news showed video from yesterday next to video from today earlier, and the difference was striking. A road up to the dam has already been washed away.
TharpDaddy
Member
Yeah, and I live there!
Yeah. And I mean the main spillway being open mitigates the damage somewhat but it's going to be even harder to repair :\
Damn, stay safe!
theepicoftyler
Member
The specific danger here is that there will be a feedback loops of erosion that will cause a catastrophic failure of the dam. An increase in the rate and amount of water released will only serve to increase the rate of erosion which in turn will release more water. Most people do not understand the pure kinetic power of water, or the sheer amount of force that a dam is holding back.
The failure of the spillway might not be a *crack* and collapse of the wall, but the potential exists. The evacuation is for the worst case scenario.
America has a long history of dams collapsing and killing large amounts of people. They're trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.
The failure of the spillway might not be a *crack* and collapse of the wall, but the potential exists. The evacuation is for the worst case scenario.
America has a long history of dams collapsing and killing large amounts of people. They're trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.
You have to evacuate people though. Can you imagine if they emergency spillway collapsed and 10 ft wall of water came down with no warning?
You are right. But the terminology and tone of voice he uses, specifically with the word "experts."
Almost as if he is saying "these so-called experts, told me failure was imminent!"
Depends on how it fails. Basic idea is that shit ton of water and ground will overwhelm downstream causing a lots of flooding and damage.
If this thing fails, it will be Trump's first big domestic crisis. Curious how he will handle it.
I feel like Obama would say something on Monday even if the situation stabilises, given that an evacuation order has taken place. I don't know about Trump though, it might just fall to Spicer to address the media tomorrow.
I feel like Obama would say something on Monday even if the situation stabilises, given that an evacuation order has taken place. I don't know about Trump though, it might just fall to Spicer to address the media tomorrow.
That's what I'm worried about. Trump would seem like the slimeball to blame the liberals, because it's California being hit...
If he would say anything at all, of course.
I do hope this is dealt with with haste, and that systemic risk is small.
This is so gaf.
StopMakingSense
Member
It's the emergency spillway thats in danger of failure.
It isn't the main spillway that has people nervous. It is the emergency spillway that is the cause of concern now. Once they started to use the emergency spillway, it began to erode the hillside below it (since the emergency spillway just empties out onto a bare hillside). That erosion formed a groove in the hillside that began to back up towards the dam. The big risk is that the carved out channel hits the spillway and creates a much larger gap for water to spill through. This would create an unmanageably large release of water. It probably wouldn't release the entire dam, but it would release a hell of a lot of water.
same deal with our bridges. They were engineering marvels, built to last for 50 years or more. (not built to handle the population of drivers that we currently have though)
60 to 80 years ago. And when they were trying to do infrastructure repair 20 to 30 years ago, something would always come up, so it never got done on the large scle that was necessary. Only emergency measures, like when something would fall down or crack open.
Cotton McKnight
Member
Wow! I always feared something like this happening when I used to live 500 yards from the Feather River. We moved away in 2015, the month the drought started ending....I have some family and former neighbors that are evacuated now.
I have a cousin that worked the phone for emergency services today and she was told to report everything was ok, all the while the Mayor of Orroville was talking about serious concerns (about 4 hours ago)!
Wow, God speed to those affected!
I have a cousin that worked the phone for emergency services today and she was told to report everything was ok, all the while the Mayor of Orroville was talking about serious concerns (about 4 hours ago)!
Wow, God speed to those affected!
I am glad they are taking the prevention of evecuating the residents, personally I am a bit doubtful that there will be any catastrophic failure.
but if it happen, the dammage could be severe, it is the highest dam of the united state and the second largest of california it seem, so any failures would be probably quite severe.
but if it happen, the dammage could be severe, it is the highest dam of the united state and the second largest of california it seem, so any failures would be probably quite severe.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
IF the emergency spillway physically fails, like the concrete breaks open, then you have an uncontrolled release of the dam. The main spillway is designed to release 100,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) into the river, and from what I've read the river can handle that in a mostly safe manner, meaning people downstream would still be safe. NOW, if the spillway breaks then you will get a flow rate that is MUCH higher than 100,000 cfs, and this is what could potentially cause a great deal of damage downstream.
Its not just that. The lateral pressure on the emergency spillway concrete is enough to collapse it when it looses lateral support from the eroded ground.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Thank goodness Trump is monitoring the situation on this Dam. He certainly isn't watching the Grammys in case someone says something mean about him.
I'm going to heat up some Oroville Redenbacher while I wait for the news
Like most of our infrastructure, they are crumbling. And there is a small amount of people dedicated to inspecting them. I think Last Week Tonight did a piece on them a while back.
TheSaddestSort
Member
Hope everyone out that way stays safe! I'm glad my friends in Sac are in an area where they should be okay.
Now...yesterday "everything will be fine". I'd GTFO
Yeah, he loves CA!
The Sacramento Bee is saying that lake levels are falling which is definitely a good thing, but that doesn't mean that that area can't still fail... hoping for the best.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132332499.html
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132332499.html
Literally nothing I looked at on Google outright said Marysville lol, my Google abilities must be rusty. Wife and I are on the road but stuck in traffic
They said once it stops going over the top they will see if any water is coming out from compromised areas.
I hope you can get out safely. If we are all lucky, nothing serious will happen, but I'm glad you are getting out just in case.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
I wake up every morning knowing a 5 year old traitor was freely elected to control a nuclear arsenal because the alternative was boring and had a vagina
There's no where else for my faith to go
After evacuating for Katrina, my thoughts and sympathies are acutely with these people.
How About No
Member
Hope you can get out safely +++
Which would be even more ridiculous than usual, because Butte County went for Trump fairly decisively. The liberals are all on the coast.
Don't they have automatic systems in place there?
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Stay safe.
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