Levee breach forcing evacuations in San Joaquin County halted

An evacuation was ordered Monday night by San Joaquin County after a report of a levee breach in a rural area southwest of Manteca.

The breach was eventually halted, the county’s Office of Emergency Services reported at 8:45 p.m.

The order to the roughly 500 people in the area with mostly farms and ranches was issued at 7:16 p.m.

It occurred two miles to the west of Airport Way and Perrin Road.

The evacuation area is Woodward Avenue on the north – Union Road on the East, to Avenue D, and then Airport Way is the rest of the east border, according to the OES.

An evacuation center has been set up at the Lathrop Community Center at 15552 5th Street in Lathrop. Small pets can be taken to the Manteca Animal Shelter at 115 E. Wetmore St.

Workers with the Reclamation District, San Joaquin County and the Department of Water Resources are working to stabilize the situation. The damaged levee is on the east side of the San Joaquin River, so water is moving north and east, the OES reported.

The City of Ripon issued a release saying none of its residents would be affected.

This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Levee breach forcing evacuations in San Joaquin County halted."