Almost 200,000 residents near Oroville Lake evacuated their homes at the order of the California Office of Emergency Services an multiple other law enforcement agencies due to the possibility of the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway failing. Standing at 770 feet tall, the Oroville dam is the tallest in the United States. Continuous flood control released onto the spillway caused by recent heavy rains damaged the dam’s main spillway, and engineers were forced to limit its use.