As of right now there is no plan to end the evacuation order for 180,000 people living in the risk area for the Oroville Dam spillway.
Authorities said late Sunday that they had issued evacuation warnings to 188,000 people because of concerns over damage to spillways at the Oroville Dam, but said there were no concerns about looting or problems associated with the move.
Besame did a great job of explaining what is happening in her diary yesterday if you are looking for more information.
I spent some time last night at the main evacuation center at the fairgrounds and again today there and at a local church that is housing more evacuees. This is a heartbreaking thing to witness firsthand. Many of these people were given minutes notice. The news reports for days prior had not mentioned evacuation as a possibility so people were not prepared. Many of us have the resources to make an evacuation like this more comfortable, but who among us can gather camping gear and enough clothes for a week with 20 minutes notice?
The evacuation centers aren’t set up for people with pets so many people slept in their cars last night with their animals. I have volunteered at a Red Cross evacuation center during a fire and it was nothing like this. The number of people is easily triple what we dealt with during the fires several yeas ago. Fire evacuees had time to gather belongings. Many of the Oroville evacuees came with the clothes on their backs and very few personal items. There was genuine terror last night that the spillway was going to collapse at any moment.
Last night we did not have enough bedding for the people in need. We are still short hundreds of cots, air mattresses, blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, etc. Many of the evacuees are very obese; they can’t sleep on the cots and air mattresses. People are driving by and dropping off clothing and it is snapped up in minutes. There is a desperate need for adult diapers, baby diapers, size XXL + clothing and adult diapers. Pet food has been appreciated and volunteers are portioning it out into lunchbags so it can be distributed as needed.
If you are in the Chico/Paradise/Yuba City area and can help out, the evacuation centers can really use the following items:
toothbrushes/toothpaste
deodorant
shampoo/soap/body wash
feminine hygiene products
adult diapers (especially size XXL)
Sweat pants in size XXL or even larger
new socks
new underwear
laundered clothing
clean/laundered bedding (blankets, quilts, pillows, etc.)
entertainment items for children (cards, games, puzzles, etc.)
pet food (bags to help divide it would also be great)
cots
air mattresses
tents (people in the parking lots have been setting up tents so they can live with their pets)
(If you are not local but want to help out send me a private message and I can give you an address)
The rain is supposed to start back up again on Thursday. I hope the attempts at spillway repair are successful before then.
The local news agencies have done a great job covering this. Mad props to KCRA and KNVN Action News