[Breaking news update, published at 4:15 p.m. ET]
All roads into Oroville, California, that had been blocked are open and evacuees can return home, police Chief Bill LaGrone told CNN on Tuesday afternoon. There’s been some good news: Lake Oroville is down to about 888 feet, which is 13 feet down from the spill level, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Officials are working to ease the crisis before the next storm, expected later Wednesday.
[Previous story, published at 3:05 p.m. ET]
Authorities are scrambling to drain Lake Oroville by 50 feet and repair damage to an emergency spillway before an imminent rainstorm threatens to push billions of gallons of water back into the lake.
A flash-flood warning is in effect Tuesday after the spillway — which lets excess water out when the level gets too high — suffered massive damage over the weekend.
If the spillway fails, it could flood communities downstream with what one official warned could be a “30-foot wall of water.”
Helicopters have been dropping bags of rocks into the gouged portion in an effort to plug the hole.
“Our crews are working around the clock, 24/7, to try to get as much rock as possible onto the damaged spillway before the next storms come,” Cal Fire spokesman Josh Janssen said.
The lake water starts gushing into the emergency spillway when it reaches 901 feet. On Tuesday morning, Lake Oroville was down to 889 feet.
“We are feeling positive,” said Al Duncan, spokesman for the response team.
Janssen said the lake level has been dropping about a foot every three hours — and that rate could improve.
“Lakes are shaped like funnels, so we could see the water level start to drop faster,” he said.
Another deluge to come
The next wave of rainfall will come overnight Wednesday into Thursday, CNN Senior Meteorologist Dave Hennen said. A series of storms will follow and last through the weekend.
Rainfall over the next week could total 5 to 12 inches and will likely push hundreds of billions of gallons of water back into Lake Oroville, Hennen said.
Will that be enough to overwhelm the dam’s spillways?
“The simple answer is we don’t know, but that is the concern,” Hennen said.
Mass exodus
The spillway damage forced the evacuation of 188,000 people. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place Tuesday for Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.
There’s no word yet on when those 188,000 people can return.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said officials were working on a plan to get people back home safely.
As repairs continue, evacuees have gone to shelters, pitched tents in parking lots and found makeshift arrangements for what could stretch for days.
Pat and Keith Dailey, a couple from Yuba City, slept in their car with their four dogs at the Colusa County Fairgrounds.
“It was miserable,” Pat Dailey told CNN affiliate KGO. “We didn’t sleep. There was people walking and people talking all night long.”
But they’re staying put.
“We’re kind of on the safe side,” said her husband, Keith. “We won’t go back, until they tell us it’s safe.”
Request for federal aid
California Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that the state is “doing everything we can to get this dam in shape so (evacuees) can return and live safely without fear.” Brown said he had requested federal response aid.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump “has been keeping a close eye on the Oroville Dam situation in California.”
He did not say whether Trump has been in touch with Brown, but said the administration has been communicating with Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa and other state officials.
“We’ve worked closely with Doug LaMalfa, who represents California’s first district where the dam is located, and other state officials to help people who have been impacted,” Spicer said Tuesday.
“The situation is a textbook example of why we need to pursue major infrastructure package in Congress. Dams, bridges, roads and all ports around the country have fallen into disrepair. … We will be working alongside with FEMA and appropriate government entities to make sure that we are doing everything we can to attend to this.”
Tallest dam in the US
The Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the United States, provides flood control for the region. The dam itself has no structural issues, but the two spillways that release water from the lake to prevent overflow have structural problems.
The main spillway, which is lined, or paved, has a hole almost the size of a football field and at least 40 feet deep. It can’t be fixed immediately and needs to be used through March, which marks the end of what’s been a very heavy rainy season.
It’s being used to drain the lake at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second in an effort to reduce the water level. Normal flows down the main spillway are about 55,000 cubic feet per second.
The emergency spillway, which is an embankment covered with trees, is a last resort and was used for the first time in its 48-year history on Saturday. Lake water began washing into it this weekend and prompted the evacuation order when officials noticed damage on the spillway.
How did we get here?
Questions remain over how it got to this point at Lake Oroville. Why weren’t more efforts made to prevent spillway erosion after concerns were raised more than 10 years ago?
California Department of Water Resources Acting Director Bill Croyle said he was “not familiar with 2005 documentation or conversation” about spillway concerns and emphasized the efforts underway to understand the current dynamics of the dam.
“We’re going to continue to work on the challenges we have,” he said.
The governor defended the state’s flood infrastructure Monday and said he welcomed “more scrutiny” as efforts continue.
Oroville as a ghost town
After the evacuations, downtown Oroville remained a ghost town. Stores sat dark and empty with sandbags stacked in front of doors. Empty gas stations had yellow tape ringed around the pump to indicate there was no more fuel.
All schools in Sutter and Yuba counties have been closed. Affected schools in Butte County are shut until Friday.
RaeLynn Jones and her fiance, who had fled their Oroville apartment near Feather River on Sunday, came back to their home Monday to pick up more of their items.
She noted that her building was unscathed, but at Feather River, the water level nearly reached the treetops. Surrounding playgrounds, gazebos and sports fields were completely submerged, she said.
Jones is staying at her fiance’s home, which is on higher ground. Nine people and three dogs are sharing the house where they’re riding out the evacuation order. With everything closed, they’re eating whatever is left in the kitchen and snacks from the gas station. For now, all they can do is wait.
Defying the evacuation order
Others decided to stay put despite the evacuation order.
Brianne Lawrence, who lives across from Feather River, brought her family back after rushing out of town on Sunday and getting stuck in traffic.
She told CNN affiliate KRCR that she lives on a hill.
“It’s going to have to come up probably, at least 10 times what it is now for us to be flooded,” she said.
Her grandfather Brian Pulley is also staying put in nearby Thermalito.
“I’m ready to leave at any second,” he told KRCR, “but I don’t think the threat’s that great at the moment.”