The Official Authors' Hangout Valentine's Day 2017 Contest Support Thread

xelliebabex said:

I more than anyone am so surprised by this. My wins in the past have been controversial or at least made that way by others, so I can shrug, be grateful and move on to the next contest hoping to replicate the phenomenon but I don't think lightning will strike twice that way to give me a good score. I think I must have just hit a sweet spot this time.

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NotWise said:

I heard that something like 180,000 people were evacuated. Is that right?

The news was going on about how the dam was not at risk, but then if a spillway starts to erode, what's left?

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Kethandra said:

188,000 is what i hear. With no end in sight.

The dam itself it a huge mound of earth, concrete and steel almost 800 feet high that blocks off a whole river valley, creating an irregular 'bowl' to hold water.
The auxiliary spillway is a raised lip about 30 feet high, off to one side from the dam itself, that completes the 'rim' of the bowl full of water. If the spillway failed, a thirty foot high wall of water would head down the center of the Sacramento valley, but the rest of water would be held in. Bear in mind that, because the valley is v-shaped, the top 30 feet is more water than the next 30, etc, but it is still not as though the whole dam fails by a long shot.

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