Troubled Waters
On Feb. 7, following heavy storms, a massive crater was discovered in the main spillway at Oroville Dam, the tallest in the United States, which led to the use of a second, emergency spillway. Days later, over 180,000 people in the region were forced to evacuate amid threats of the emergency spillway’s collapse. Photojournalist Max Whittaker chronicled the crisis as residents fled to seek safety and shelter.
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Hours after a massive hole is found in the main spillway of the Oroville Dam on Feb. 7, officials at the California Department of Water Resources temporarily stop releasing water in order to evaluate the extent of the damage.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Portions of the hillside show signs of erosion following the release of 55,000 cubic feet of water per second from Lake Oroville on Feb. 7.Photo by Max Whittaker
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State officials close access to the top of the dam after the crater is discovered in the spillway.Photo by Max Whittaker
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As a series of winter storms threatens to overflow the reservoir, California Department of Water Resources personnel monitor the condition of the damaged spillway on Feb. 10.Photo by Max Whittaker
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The McCaskill family from Oroville waits for pizza to arrive outside an evacuation center at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico on Feb. 12.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Vera and Abdullah Costanza of Oroville have dinner together at the evacuation center. Highways were clogged for hours as over 180,000 residents fled to higher ground on Feb. 12.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Oroville residents, from left, Robert King, Jerry Lee Huggins and Anna Gibson set up camp at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. Pets weren’t allowed inside for the first two days of the evacuation, so many pet owners slept on the lawn or in their cars.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Shari Mota, right, from Gridley, attempts to get her children to go to sleep. The American Red Cross struggled to find enough cots for the throngs of evacuees who arrived in Chico.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Jacquelyne Elgen from Oroville looks on as her son Billy, 5, sleeps.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Fifteen-year-old Donald Backovich of Oroville sleeps inside a Chico evacuation center.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Oroville resident Georgia Villaflor uses her laptop to get news updates as she sits in her car in the parking lot of the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds with her dog, Precious.Photo by Max Whittaker
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The Spigers from Oroville wait with others to enter the evacuation center.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Albert Morrison Sr. and his 14-month-old son, Albert Jr., who were evacuated from Oroville, take a shower for the first time in three days at Chico’s Silver Dollar Fairgrounds on Feb. 15.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Children’s artwork decorates a tree at the fairgrounds.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Matt Perry, who lives homeless in Oroville, sits outside a Chico evacuation center with his dog, Honey.Photo by Max Whittaker
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Mike Hoage helps downtown Oroville’s Voodoo Tattoo parlor prepare for coming storms on Feb. 15.Photo by Max Whittaker
Photographs by Max Whittaker
Click on the photos in the gallery to enlarge them.
This article appears in the April-May 2017 issue of Sactown Magazine.
