More than 50,000 homes could be affected if Oroville Dam fails

Jafet Serrato // February 20, 2017

A new data analysis predicts 15,750 homes in Butte County could be damaged if the Oroville Dam completely failed.

The data brief provided by Alexandra Hayes includes the following counties:

· Colusa

· Glenn

· Sutter

· Yolo

· Yuba

A total of 50,047 homes would be in danger of flooding by the down flow of the tallest dam in the United States.

Costs are estimated to be around $13 billion in order to reconstruct those homes around Oroville, assuming that there is 100 percent destruction.

A separate list includes homes specifically by ZIP codes, along with the number of homes destroyed.

Chart of affected cities
A chart showing the zip code and number of homes the Oroville Dam could damage if it collapses. Photo credit: Jafet Serrato

These cities are considered to be the most at risk.

“Only 12 percent are in a special flood hazard area,” according to the CoreLogic data brief.

Jafet Serrato can be reached at [email protected] or @jafetserrato on Twitter.