Event narrative (NOAA)
A mass evacuation of over 180000 people located downstream of Oroville Dam was ordered for a possible flash flood, due to the projected near failure of the emergency spillway. The emergency spillway was used when the main spillway was discovered to have suffered severe erosion during releases back on and around February 7th. Releases from Lake Oroville had been increased due to rising lake levels due to inflow from heavy rains.||A presidential disaster declaration provided $274 million for emergency response costs from Feb. 7 though the end of May. The money targeted stabilizing the emergency and main spillways, as well as debris removal and work on the downed Hyatt Powerplant. A bid for long term repairs to the spillway was accepted at $275 million. Together, these total $549 million, tho
Other notable flood events in California
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.