The Butte County Sheriff’s Department announced it had reduced the evacuation order to a warning, allowing people in downstream communities from Oroville Dam - 120 kilometers north of Sacramento - to return home. The department urged some 188,000 impacted residents to "remain vigilant and prepared as conditions can rapidly change" -- saying that authorities could issue another evacuation order if necessary. The goal is to lower the water level by at least 15 metres below the top of the reservoir. The California Department of Water Resources had indicated that the water level was dropping at eight to 10 centimetres per hour. The Oroville Dam, completed in 1968, is 770 feet high, the tallest in the country.

Source: Viet Nam News February 15, 2017 05:02 UTC