In northern California, nearly 188,000 residents were ordered evacuated after damage was found in the local Oroville dam. The dam, which is the highest dam in the country, standing at a whopping 770 feet, was found to have faulty overflow channels when the water levels rose and were nearly activated. The call to evacuate was made to avoid a catastrophic worst case scenario, but luckily things are looking positive, and it seems as if the dam has no real chance of bursting.

The order to evacuate remained in place as of Sunday night, but officials were expecting a worst case scenario. The spillway was expected to collapse, but hours after the evacuation, order went into effect, it was still standing and appears as if it will stay. Officials say that if it were to burst, it would send a 30 ft high wall of water hurtling down the valley, and without an evacuation order, thousands of lives would be compromised.

The dam itself had never needed to activate the emergency spillway since 1968. Water levels rose to the record levels due to heavy rain and snowfall. But people were not the only ones evacuated to safety, fish were too and not for the reason you might be thinking. Nearly 5 million baby fish were transferred from the state operated Feather River hatchery to safer locations, as this hatchery raises nearly 30 percent of all of California’s salmon, which is a $4 billion dollar industry.

Many residents in the surrounding area are taking in evacuated residents. Everyone in the surrounding communities is helping out, and even a small Sikh center in Sacramento is offering a place to stay for 50 people. The site of the dam is about 60 miles north of Sacramento, and is the destination for many of those evacuated. Thankfully, it seems as if there will be no major catastrophe today, but only time will tell how the whole situation will continue to unfold.