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OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — If the dam at California's Lake Oroville were to fail -- would the people in the path of the water have enough time to get out?
Not according to the repeated warnings a half-decade ago to federal regulators from the state agency that operates the dam, which is the nation's tallest.
The agency said if the 770-foot dam itself were to fail -- rather than its spillways -- communities immediately downstream would not get adequate warning or time for evacuations.
At the time, regulators recommended that the state implement more public-warning systems and work to improve early detection of any problems at the dam.
Six years later, state and local officials have adopted some of the recommendations -- including automated warnings through reverse-911 calls to residents.
But local officials say the state hasn't taken other stems, such as providing routine community briefings and improving escape routes.
The scenario is a different and far graver situation than the concern that prompted sudden evacuation orders Sunday for 188,000 downstream residents. The fear was that water from a series of winter storms could roar uncontrolled down a rapidly eroding emergency spillway toward towns downstream.
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