Water & Drought

High-altitude photos show water and its threat to communities near Oroville Dam

The complex relationship between nature and human need and ability to control it is illustrated by aerial photos of Lake Oroville, Oroville Dam, the dam’s spillways, the Feather River and nearby communities.
The complex relationship between nature and human need and ability to control it is illustrated by aerial photos of Lake Oroville, Oroville Dam, the dam’s spillways, the Feather River and nearby communities.

Photographs taken from high in the air and provided by Nearmap provide a sobering look at Lake Oroville, Oroville Dam and its spillways, the Feather River and nearby communities threatened by the water. These pictures were taken on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, two days after near-failure of the dam’s emergency spillway.

 
This image, shot from high above the earth, shows the chaotic confluence where Lake Oroville water smashes into the Feather River on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. / Nearmap
 
A high-altitude photo captures Lake Oroville, Oroville Dam, the main spillway and the scrubbed-down emergency spillway on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. / Nearmap
 
A wide perspective from high altitude shows plenty of homes and communities below Lake Oroville and hard beside the Feather River on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. / Nearmap
 
The lower portion of Oroville Dam's damaged main spillway boils with massive flows of water from Lake Oroville on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. / Nearmap
 
Debris piles up behind the intake to the Oroville Dam spillway as water from Lake Oroville pours down the chute toward the Feather River below on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. / Nearmap
 
The Feather River rolls away from where Lake Oroville water, ending its trip down the Oroville Dam spillway, enters. / Nearmap

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This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 2:05 PM with the headline "High-altitude photos show water and its threat to communities near Oroville Dam."

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