New evacuation orders in Tulare County overnight. Water spilling out of dam, sheriff says

Thaddeus Miller
·2 min read

THE LATEST: Another door-to-door evacuation order Wednesday night

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux issued new evacuation orders and began visiting homes Wednesday along the Tule River in Porterville.

The order was announced just before midnight due to water levels rising in Success Lake to the point it was running over the spillway at Schafer Dam, the sheriff’s office said.

People were ordered to leave any structures on Tule River from Schafer Dam at Lake Success in Porterville to the east side of Road 284.

Boudreaux said in a video on social media deputies and firefighters would be going to about 100 homes in the area to notify people.

“We realize it’s late at night,” he said after midnight Wednesday. “Social media is not going to be the way to get to them.”

He said the waters were about eight hours from becoming unsafe for those in the area, which would be about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District said they would let an increased amount of water out of Schafer Dam though they stressed the water was not getting close to spilling over the top of the dam.

Water was leaving the spillway at about 6,000 cubic feet per second as of Monday evening and was expected to increase to 12,500 cfs by Wednesday evening, the corps says.

Officials say they are also monitoring Lake Kaweah and Terminus Dam as the region has been pelted with rainfall in recent weeks.

They assured residents the dam is not close to overflowing, according to the corps.

The corps said they are monitoring the dam and lake levels around the clock and are coordinating with state and local officials to update how much water to release multiple times per day, according to a news release on Tuesday.

Madera County changes to evacuations

Evacuation warnings for several locations in Madera County were lifted late Tuesday:

  • West Side of Church Street

  • Bass Lake Mobile Home Park (North Fork)

  • East Side of Cascadel Woods

  • Cedar Valley – Northwest

The shelter in place request has also been lifted:

  • Cedar Valley – Southeast

  • Road 620 – Carter Creek Area

  • Femmon Ranch Road

An advisory remains for Cedar Valley – Southeast because of road damage, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said.