Spillway crisis causes class cancellations, affects Chico State faculty

Oroville lake, spillway and emergency spillway. Photo courtesy of California Department of Water Resources.

Oroville lake, spillway and emergency spillway. Photo courtesy of California Department of Water Resources.

Students have experienced class cancellations since some faculty have been unable to reach campus because of the Oroville Spillway crisis.

Forrest Hartman, a professor in the journalism department, is a resident of Oroville and has been unable to leave his home because of potential road closures.

Hartman
Forrest Hartman, professor in Journalism department. Photo courtesy of Forrest Hartman.

“It’s sort of a surreal and strange situation,” Hartman said.

Hartman said he had to cancel his classes for the last two days, but hopes to return to campus as early as tomorrow.

Most residents were only given an hour to evacuate their homes.

“We weren’t as prepared as we would have liked to be,” he said. “It took us about 30 minutes to get groceries,” Hartman said.

The mandatory evacuation order was lifted during the press conference Tuesday, but may be reinstated at any time.

Kayla Fitzgerald and Alejandra Fraga can be reached at [email protected] or @theorionnews on Twitter.