CALIFORNIA: Over 200,000 people, including Indian American farmers and labourers, were evacuated from the Yuba/Sutter Counties in Northern California when state officials found a hole in an auxiliary spillway for the Oroville Dam. Indian American farmer Karm Bains said, "There's three and a half million acre feet of water behind the Oroville Dam. If that dam were to breach, we would lose everything."
The son of legendary 'Peach King of California' Didar Singh Bains, Karm owns an estimated 1,600 acres of land in the region. The Yuba and Sutter County region has been home to Punjabi American farmers for over a century - the community owns approximately 50,000 acres of land worth around $1.3 billion. They alone grow almost the entirety of the nation's canned peaches, two-thirds of walnuts, almonds, pistachios and plums. Subsequent to the mandatory evacuation order, gurdwaras in neighbouring areas like Sacramento, West Sacramento, Rio Linda, and Stockton, immediately opened their doors to shelter temporarily-homeless people.
The West Sacramento gurdwara, largest in the state, currently provides shelter, food, and medical care to over 200 people, and holds a capacity of 400 in its worship hall and auxiliary area. "Our doors are open to everyone- white, brown, black. This is about humanity in the Sikh tradition," said Ranjeet Singh, manager. He added that everyone, including non-Indians, are enjoying vegetarian meals provided three times a day. He also noted that the kitchen is equipped to feed 3,000 people. Singh said the temple needs donations of blankets, pillows, and other bedding, along with baby food and snacks for children.
A Stockton gurdwara volunteer said the temple was currently housing about 60 families and providing them with shelter, food, and other necessities. "Everyone is worried about their homes. They don't know when they can go back," she said. State officials from the Department of Water Resources noticed there was a 250 feet long, 170 feet wide, and 40 to 50 feet deep hole in the main spillway. While they tried to drain water through the main spillway, to mitigate further damage, heavy rains prompted a call into action on the dam's auxiliary spillway, for the first time since it was constructed in 1968.
Darin Gale, Yuba City's economic growth & public affairs director, said that the region would remain under evacuation order until the impact of the February 16 storm is determined. Crews are currently releasing 100,000 cubic feet of water per second to mitigate the impact of the coming storm. "If all the water is released uncontrollably, it could devastate the region," he said. "The force of all that water could tear out trees," Gale explained that several thousand acres of orchards lie within the levee system. "Making the decision to evacuate a community was not easy. But the decision was made in the best interest of the public. We knew we had to issue an evacuation order," he added.
All institutions and facilities, including hospitals, assisted living facilities, and even jails, have had to be evacuated under the order. Kash Gill, former mayor of Yuba City and a farmer by profession, said, "Everything has come to a standstill here. It is a very stressful situation."
