CA dam

[4.3LXJ]

Hi everyone, nice sunny day here in CA. But if you listen to the news, there is a serious problem in Oroville Dam spillway. Here is a late pic of it. It is designed to handle a lot of water if needed, but is falling apart. In the photo, you can see where there is a rough spot about 2/3 the way down where the original hole is and a bunch of water going off to the side that has eroded the place down to bed rock (that stuff that makes CA wheeling famous). We are about ten miles from the water shed affected by the evacuation order and cold have our own woes I suppose if the river 1/4 mile from our place breeches the levee. But no danger of that so far. So I sit tight, the guns are loaded in case we get a stray looter that has lost his way. Maybe a little target practicing on my land will make an impression. Staying safe for now, more rain expected this week. More drama to come

[denverd1]

been following it all morning. crazy for sure. things calming down on the emergency spillway? that seemed the biggest threat

didn't know you were that close. I say a few practice rounds are in order as preventative maintenance

[4.3LXJ]

Got the police pistole loaded and in front of me. Wonder how many people have been shot already with it? :confused:

[prerunner1982]

Stay safe Steve. Keep us updated.

If anyone is interested in listening to the public safety (Police/Fire) from that area: http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/1929

[4.3LXJ]

Will do. Lots of planes and helicopters in the sky. No pot grows safe today :D

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Good luck with the flooding. Saw they were hauling rock in by helicopter. Is it doing any good? Any concrete/redi-mix plants nearby? The standard repair/prevent-defense for that type of failure is a 'grout' injection curtain to stabilize the ground/fill. Keep your tank full, and have some extra fuel in cans on board. When the failure becomes critical, the hydro power may get shut down. If the dam fails, the power grid is gone. No power, no fuel at the pumps. Take care of your family - don't wait too long to evacuate. You can always replace things, just not lives.

[Hum Wee JR]

The evacuation sites for this mess are the towns of chico and Paradise on the west side. On the east side are Auburn, Grass Valley and truckee. Currently hwy 70, 99, 149, 49, 89, 50 and interstate 80 are all closed due to flooding or mud slides. They are routing evacuation traffic through hwy 20 also the only way to get to Nevada in northern California. Hwy 20 is a parking lot for miles at certian times of the day.

Every hotel, bed and breakfast and camp ground is full, Placer county fair grounds (Auburn) and Nevada county fair grounds (Grass Valley California) are packed. Gas stations, grocery stores and hardware stores all have long lines. Nevada countys population just grew 50 percent in one day and could double.

With low snow levels comming a lot more rain it is going to get interesting.

[bluedragon436]

Was reading about this yesterday... and was wondering if any of our CA members would be affected by it... Stay safe and keep us updated... as much as you're able to anyways.. so we know you guys are still whole!!

[Hum Wee JR]

I live in the mountains, any flooding we get goes down hill quickly. Dad lives down in the valley on the edge of the evacuation zone. Normally only an hour and half drive the only route for him to get to my house well above the flood plane is now about a 16 hour drive. North to Redding east to Humboldt south to San Francisco north east to me. It sounds like everything will be ok just precautionary evacuation. 188,000 people to keep safe is a lot people. Better safe than sorry for sure though

[XJ Wheeler]

Glad they're handling this properly by the sound of it. Not something to mess around with, at all. Stay safe Steve, and keep us updated.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[oderdene]

Stay safe bro

@Tapatalk ;-)

[denverd1]

Glad they're handling this properly by the sound of it. Not something to mess around with, at all. Stay safe Steve, and keep us updated.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

Total speculation here, but seems like maintenance on a few vital components has fallen way behind.

[4.3LXJ]

Total speculation here, but seems like maintenance on a few vital components has fallen way behind.

Apparently this is big government at its finest. The problem was identified in 2005. It will take no less than permits from 20 different regulatory agencies, plus environmental reviews etc to begin work on repair. Everybody just gave up on it.

[Hum Wee JR]

Good news interstate 80 is open and hwy 49 is open to one lane easing traffic congestion.

Living in a small community we have lots of community events, this weekend we are having a parade in Nevada City and family fun events at the local park. They are inviting all the displaced families to come and enjoy some free family fun on Saturday. Looking foward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

[4.3LXJ]

What is the park event?

[Pookapotamus]

Wow! Stay safe Steve!!!!


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[4.3LXJ]

Thanks Dana. Just got back from Chico, life seems pretty normal. Not to many people camped in the fairgrounds. Must have found other places to stay

[Hum Wee JR]

Evacuation lifted. Everybody is headed home

[bluedragon436]

Evacuation lifted. Everybody is headed home

Glad to hear that... Guess the boulders and rock that they dropped in the hole worked..

[denverd1]

1200 tons of material PER HOUR are being dropped

[XJ Wheeler]

Total speculation here, but seems like maintenance on a few vital components has fallen way behind.


Apparently this is big government at its finest. The problem was identified in 2005. It will take no less than permits from 20 different regulatory agencies, plus environmental reviews etc to begin work on repair. Everybody just gave up on it.
Figures. Remember Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans? Well, the whole problem was that Lake Pontchartrain back flowed due to the winds pushing the water. It flowed over the levee and there was nothing to stop it. The then mayor of New Orleans had the money to extend the levee for years and approval to do so, but being an idiot he used the money for something else. People died because of it.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[4.3LXJ]

Well, now they are talking a reduction in flow from the spill way already

[denverd1]

Figures. Remember Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans? Well, the whole problem was that Lake Pontchartrain back flowed due to the winds pushing the water. It flowed over the levee and there was nothing to stop it. The then mayor of New Orleans had the money to extend the levee for years and approval to do so, but being an idiot he used the money for something else. People died because of it.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

got a link?

My understanding was the pumps failed when they lost power. backup power failed. then levees started breaking

[4.3LXJ]

No link. I just got back from the pick and pull in Oroville (my favorite). Was talking to the guy at the counter and he told me that. He had the news on his phone at the time. They are letting a lot of water out of that dam. Feather River below Oroville is really high and where it has no levee it is a good half mile wide

[XJ Wheeler]

got a link?

My understanding was the pumps failed when they lost power. backup power failed. then levees started breaking
Not off hand, and a quick search showed only federal blah blah fema blah. Lol. The guy is a first class idiot though. He's actually in prison now for bribery while he was mayor.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[4.3LXJ]

Not sure where "pumps" came from or the idea that if the power generators go, the whole grid goes down. No pumps involved. Generators are turbines run by water falling through them. The whole grid can be isolated the same as power to houses if there is a problem. Really big switches :D

[bluedragon436]

I'd imagine they'd have pretty good backup diesel generators for emergency things such as pumps, and only for them... but who knows... I'm sure there will be some changes to the system now..

[denverd1]

talking about NOLA. The whole city is 6' below MSL. ginormous pumps move water out of the hole. they failed, levees broke, etc.

hope the rain doesn't do more damage to oroville

[4.3LXJ]

Rained last night, but clear and wind blowing today. Not as much as I think they were expecting

[bluedragon436]

Rained last night, but clear and wind blowing today. Not as much as I think they were expecting

Guess news was reporting they're expecting more rain this weekend... hope that it stays calm/quiet for you guys there.. hopefully they've still been working not filling the hole up so they can use the standard gates more, without the fear of massive erosion & ultimately failure of the damn due to erosion...

[4.3LXJ]

They have been using the main spillway. Just said screw it and let her rip. World hasn't ended over it