So what's the real situation? ‘Hey, we got a hole forming, and it's cutting back towards the face of the emergency spillway, I think this thing's going to go within an hour.’ (45 minutes of discussions later) Evacuate Oroville. About 30 minutes later, Yuba & Sutter counties ordered evacuations of low areas, and then 20 minutes after that, Marysville was ordered to evacuate.
I'm not sure what the plan is at this point. The dam is stabilized at this time. They have a plan to shore up the areas of concern, though the damaged spillway is still an ongoing issue and will likely remain so until July.
Meanwhile, twiddling thumbs in a hotel waiting for more information.
I guess dropping it 50ft will enough to store the incoming rainwater? Supposed to rain for a week? Stay safe.