Not so. Look, I literally live right down the road from the dam dam...The spillway is toast which means they run water down the hillside channel. Barring that, then there is the Emergency Overflow, which is essentially letting the water flow over the top and down the hill and into the river. The spillway and overflow are off to one side of the dam itself. There is no danger to the integrity of the dam itself, just too much water coming in versus how much they can release.
20 years ago we faced a similar situation in where the dam crested a foot short of the top. The weather begins to clear tomorrow an through the weekend so that will help. There is lots of water coming off the hills and into the dam, but barring any future storms the next few days, it should all be fine.
The pictures are impressive but the dam is not going to fail. The spillway will fail, but that is not the end. Just wait for things to clear, throw some boulders into the spillway and concrete that puppy back up.
Like I said, I live here and things are just fine.
Happy to hear it.
However I was thinking more of erosion under where the hole is. Since it is basically just dirt, how big of a hole will it create, and at what point would (with all the pressure of the water behind the dam) it give way opening a breech in the dam.
I of course only have news reports and pictures to go on. But if you feel safe then you must feel it will not happen.
I guess I have watched too many SECONDS TO DISASTERS. :)
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For now, it looks like a job for a couple of Gunite or Shotcrete rigs to have fun with.
Just throw the rebar mats in and start shooting. It appears that they have two service roads nearby.
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You okay?