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   From: morons@sfchronicle.com   
      
   Yuba City resident: ‘I think this panic is unnecessary.’   
      
   8:10 p.m.: Darlene Tulumello, 52, an unemployed legal secretary   
   in Yuba City, was parked at the gas station with her husband and   
   two cats, trying to figure out where to go.   
      
   Just an hour before, she said, they had been doing their grocery   
   shopping when the store announced that it was closing.   
      
   Tulumello said they might head to Colusa, though she wasn’t   
   feeling the same sense of urgency to get out of town as the   
   miles of cars backed up on the freeway. Just yesterday, she   
   added, she had been thinking about sticking around at home.   
      
   “I think this panic is unnecessary,” Tulumello said. “You might   
   as well sit back, have a beer and let fate take its course.”   
      
   State water officials will hold press conference at 9 p.m. with   
   next update   
      
   California Department of Water Resources announced that it will   
   provide another update at 9 p.m. The press confernce will air on   
   Periscope.   
      
   Chico evacuation center is full; additional shelter open at   
   Neighborhood Church   
      
   Butte County announced at 7:40 p.m. that the Silver Dollar   
   Fairgrounds evacuation center is full. Another shelter is   
   available at the Neighborhood Church in Chico, 2801 Notre Dame   
   Blvd.   
      
   Sacramento hotels filling with evacuees   
      
   Evacuees are reserving hotel rooms along Hwy. 99 and Interstate   
   5 in Sacramento near the airport. The Homewood Suites by Hilton   
   started getting calls around 6 p.m., said Front Desk Agent Gao   
   Hang. Twenty reservations were made within the hour in back-to-   
   back phone calls.   
      
   “They didn’t care about the price at all because they just need   
   a place to go,” she said. “It’s not just us.”   
      
   Two neighboring hotels are filling up as well, she said. The   
   Homewood Suites is about 75 percent reserved so far.   
      
   Lake levels down, but risk remains   
      
   7:15 p.m.   
      
   Oroville Lake depths are decreasing rapidly as officials release   
   a huge amount of water from its main spillway.   
      
   Lake levels have fallen about one-half a foot in the last two   
   hours and stand at 901.35 feet, about four-tenths of a foot   
   above the level where water flows through the emergency   
   spillway, state figures show.   
      
   At that pace, water should stop spilling over the emergency   
   spillway within several hours, giving officials a chance to more   
   fully assess erosion.   
      
   Falling depths do not mean the areas below the dam are safe. The   
   emergency spillway is essentially part of the dam and the   
   concern is that it will fail, something that could happen even   
   if water stops flowing over its top.   
      
   Evacuations are widespread   
      
   More than 160,000 people in evacuation area   
      
   More than 162,000 residents in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties   
   were affected by Sunday night’s evacuation orders, census   
   figures show.   
      
   Butte sheriff: Situation improving   
      
   State Department of Water Resources told Butte County Sheriff   
   Kony Honea shortly after 6 p.m. that “the erosion that caused   
   all this concern was not advancing as rapidly as they thought.”   
      
   “That’s a very good thing,” he said.   
      
   There is a plan currently in place which would hopefully plug   
   that hole, Honea said, including using helicopters dropping bags   
   of rock into the crevasse to prevent any further erosion.   
      
   He said two inches of water is still coming over the dam, which   
   “is significantly down” from earlier flows.   
      
   “That has helped reduce the level of the lake,” he said. “It’s   
   hopefully going to reduce the pressure on that alternative,   
   emergency spillway and stabilize the situation so we can find a   
   repair and hopefully prevent it from complete failure.”   
      
   Meanwhile, officials say they’ve mobilized swift-water rescue   
   teams to be ready should they need to rescue people in   
   floodwaters below the dam.   
      
   Horse boarding, RV space offered   
      
   Sacramento businessman and former congressman Doug Ose is   
   offering to help board horses for people affected by the   
   evacuation.   
      
   “Gibson Ranch in northern Sacto County can accommodate 25 horses   
   and RVs/campers/tents 916-806-3110,” Ose tweeted.   
      
   Residents scared   
      
   Some evacuees in Marysville say their mood is bordering on panic.   
      
   Erin English of Linda said she got a robo-call a few minutes ago   
   telling her to evacuate and get to higher ground.   
      
   She immediately called 911 and dispatchers there at first told   
   her to go to Chico, then changed their mind saying that she   
   might not make it there before water came through.   
      
   Instead they told her to go to the Colusa Casino.   
      
   She was getting gas in South Marysville with her husband and two   
   children and her dogs. They didn’t have time, she said, to grab   
   anything from their home.   
      
   “I’m scared to death. I’ve never been through anything like this   
   before,” she said. “I pray for the safety of everybody here.”   
      
   Kevin Carroll of Marysville said he’s dubious about the   
   evacuation order, but he is obeying.   
      
   He lives on the banks of the Feather River and says the river is   
   not high and could handle a lot more water.   
      
   Nevertheless he said the evacuation order is mandatory so he and   
   his wife are gathering up some clothes and the dogs and heading   
   out.   
      
   “My wife said go,” he said. “The river is right on our back   
   door.”   
      
   He doesn’t expect Marysville to flood though.   
      
   “I’m not saying it won’t,” he said. “There’s a lot of room in   
   that river right now.   
      
   “It can save lives or be a waste of time,” he said. “I hope for   
   the best for the evacuees. Be safe.”   
      
   Expert says spillway failure could be catastrophic   
      
   6:26 p.m.   
      
   Nicholas Sitar, the Edward G. Cahill and John R. Cahill   
   Professor of Civil Engineering at UC Berkeley, said losing 30   
   feet from the top of the emergency spillway could be   
   catastrophic.   
      
   “You look at 30 feet times the area of the reservoir,” he said.   
   “That is how much water is going to come out. That is a huge   
   volume of water.”   
      
   He said the Department of Water Resources is “dumping as much   
   water as the river could handle.”   
      
   He said, “All that you do is watch it – whatever expert you talk   
   to, all you can do is hope for the best.”   
      
   Evacuation expands   
      
   6:15 p.m.   
      
   Caltrans tweeted that the evacuation for Yuba, Sutter and Butte   
   counties includes Hallwood, Marysville, Olivehurst/Linda, Plumas   
   Lake, Gridley, Live Oak and Yuba City due to potential failure   
   of Oroville Dam spillway.   
      
   Oroville and other area residents streaming out of town have   
   created a large traffic jam at Highway 99 and Bogue Road, where   
   many are fueling their vehicles and heading for safety.   
      
   Jessica Robertson, 28, a Yuba City resident, was among the   
   throngs Sunday night filling her gas tank after receiving the   
   word to get out.   
      
   “I’m fine, but I’m a little irritated with the traffic,” she   
   said. “I hope everyone stays safe. They’re saying everything’s   
   going to be fine, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”   
      
   Michelle Grandinetti and her family quickly left their home off   
   Oroville Quincy Highway and tried to get on Hwy. 70 to head for   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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