XPost: rec.arts.tv, alt.politics.democrats.d, alt.hollywood   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
   From: morons@sfchronicle.com   
      
   "This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill,” the National   
   Weather Service said Sunday, urging people living below Oroville   
   Dam to evacuate.   
      
   More than 100,000 people were told to evacuate because of a   
   “hazardous situation” involving the Northern California dam's   
   emergency spillway. At one point, the NWS warned that the   
   auxiliary spillway was expected to fail and could send an   
   “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.”   
   However, by late Sunday night, officials said the immediate   
   threat had passed because water had stopped washing over the   
   emergency spillway.   
      
   The mass evacuations cap a week of frantic efforts to prevent   
   flooding as the reservoir behind America’s tallest dam reached   
   capacity and its main spillway was severely damaged.   
      
   On Saturday, water levels rose so high that an emergency   
   spillway was used for the first time. Officials initially   
   believed the measure worked. But Sunday afternoon, as more water   
   from record storms flowed into Lake Oroville, officials detected   
   a hole in the emergency spillway and eventually ordered the   
   evacuations.   
      
   By late Sunday, the crisis at the Oroville Dam eased somewhat,   
   as the water level at the reservoir dropped. That halted water   
   flow from a damaged emergency spillway that officials feared   
   could collapse. But officials stressed that the situation is   
   still dangerous and that evacuations should continue.   
      
   A failure of the emergency spillway could cause huge amounts of   
   water to flow into the Feather River, which runs through   
   downtown Oroville, and other waterways.   
      
   Gov. Jerry Brown issued an emergency order aimed at bolstering   
   the state's response to the crisis.   
      
   A list of evacuation centers can be found here .   
      
   PHOTOS: Sinkhole on spillway of Oroville Dam   
      
   VIDEO: Lake Oroville overflow sends debris down the Feather River   
      
      
   Park underwater downstream from Oroville Dam   
   Brian van der Brug   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 10:00 A.M.   
   FEMA assists state officials with Oroville Dam emergency   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 9:51 A.M.   
   MARYSVILLE, CALIF.   
   'I don't like taking people's word.' Evacuees cope with   
   uncertainty   
      
   Paige St. John   
   Brittany Bartel and her daughter were caught by surprise when   
   authorities began evacuating the low-lying town of Marysville,   
   about an hour's drive south of Oroville, Sunday.   
      
   Bartel and her daughter left their home with what they could   
   throw into the car in 30 minutes, including their 10-week-old   
   puppy and a cat. They slept in a car in a commuter parking lot   
   near Grass Valley, camped out with a small group of Marysville   
   evacuees.   
      
   "We were pretty cold," Bartel said.   
      
   Bartel and her daughter were among the more than 100,000 people   
   who were told to evacuate because of a “hazardous situation”   
   involving the Oroville Dam's emergency spillway after the   
   nation's tallest dam reached capacity over the weekend.   
      
   "This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill,” the National   
   Weather Service said Sunday, urging people living below Oroville   
   Dam to evacuate.   
      
   The parking lot near Grass Valley became a campsite, of sorts,   
   for Marysville evacuees who pitched tents and slept in their   
   cars.   
      
   Erin Smith, 31, and her husband, daughter and dog spent the   
   night near Bartel's car. She had spent days watching accounts of   
   the deteriorating spillway and the troubling reports of how much   
   water was entering the lake and how much could be safely   
   discharged.   
      
   Smith had begun to pack before the mandatory evacuations, and   
   her daughter brought along her own backcountry emergency kit.   
      
   Smith said she would be wary of any declaration that it was safe   
   to return home.   
      
   "I don't think I would go down to stay," she said. "I would go   
   down to prep more."   
      
   She said she would make her decision on when it was safe to   
   sleep in her home again only after assessing the situation   
   herself.   
      
   "It's questionable. I want to see what the spillway looks like.   
   I don't like taking people's word," Smith said as her family   
   huddled around a small camp stove.   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 9:30 A.M.   
   Beale Air Force Base opens gates to Oroville Dam evacuees   
   Veronica Rocha   
   Beale Air Force Base has opened its gates to residents evacuated   
   from communities below the Oroville Dam.   
      
   The base, east of Marysville, has taken in 375 residents as of   
   Monday morning, according to base officials. Residents received   
   food, water and shelter.   
      
   “We are planning to receive many more and we offer support to   
   our communities in need,” the base wrote on Facebook. “Team   
   Beale understands the hardships many are enduring during this   
   crisis, and we want to offer all of the aid we can.”   
      
   The base is now working with the California Office of Emergency   
   Services to help residents who need long-term and specialized   
   care.   
      
   Anyone who needs assistance is urged to call the Beale Air Force   
   Base Emergency Family Action Center at (530) 634-5627.   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 9:03 A.M.   
   Danger lurking at Oroville Dam: Days of rain coming   
   In some ways, the efforts to make repairs to the damaged   
   emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam are a race against time.   
      
   Forecasters say Monday and Tuesday should be dry. But on   
   Wednesday, more rain is possible. And the wet weather is   
   expected to continue into the weekend.   
      
   The rain is likely to increase water levels at Lake Oroville.   
   Sunday night, officials were able to send water out of the   
   damaged main spillway, taking pressure off the emergency   
   spillway. Workers plan to make repairs to the emergency spillway   
   beginning Monday.   
      
   The main spillway was damaged -- officials say the cost could   
   reach $200 million or more -- after a series of record rain and   
   snow storms swelled the reservoir.   
      
   After five years of drought, Northern California has experienced   
   one of the wettest winters on record.   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 8:43 A.M.   
   Race on to fix Oroville Dam's damaged emergency spillway   
   Workers are expected on Monday to begin repairing erosion at the   
   emergency spillway at Lake Oroville that threatened to flood   
   downstream towns and forced more than 100,000 people from their   
   homes Sunday.   
      
   Officials said they would use bags of rocks to try to plug the   
   hole at the emergency spillway.   
      
   It appeared prep work was beginning Monday morning.   
      
   They emphasized the situation remains dangerous at the reservoir   
   and urged residents in communities along the Feather River to   
   evacuate to higher ground.   
      
   FEB. 13, 2017, 8:40 A.M.   
   More rain in forecast as workers struggle to lower water level   
   at Oroville Dam   
   Joseph Serna   
   An approaching storm has added new urgency to the Department of   
   Water Resources' frantic efforts to reduce water levels at   
   Oroville Dam by 50 feet.   
      
   Rain is expected to begin falling late Wednesday and continue   
   through the weekend, according to Tom Dang, a National Weather   
   Service meteorologist in Sacramento.   
      
   At least 3 inches of rain is expected to fall on Oroville, while   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)