Water pouring over a whirlpool-like drain in Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California, has created a rare sight brought on by rains that have caused major flooding throughout the region.
This is the first time the massive drain has been used in this capacity in 11 years, according to CBS News.
“Back in October, we were essentially half-full,” said Roland Sanford, general manager of the Solano County Water Agency, according to CBS News. “This is the first time that the lake has been so low, and filled-up and spilled in one year.”
The funnel-shaped drain is located near the Monticello Dam. Anytime water in Lake Berryessa rises to more than 440 feet above sea level, water spills over the 72-foot-wide lip of the whirlpool-like drain, CBS News noted. The water then flows into a creek located 700 feet below the drain.
The drain is expected to continue to take in high volumes of water for the next several weeks.
The storms California is experiencing are said to be the state’s worst in six years, causing thousands of evacuations, according to Sky News.
Authorities have been going door to door ordering thousands of California residents to evacuate their homes as the rain storms continue to get worse.
“The water started to seep in the driveway, and then it started to creep up into the front door,” said Alex Hilario, a California resident, according Sky News. “It kept getting worse and worse.”
People in northern California are expected to experience some of the worst flash floods the area has seen in two decades after heavy amounts of water were released in the Tuolumne River.
Katie Whitley, the manager of a mobile park in northern California, said residents living in the area started fleeing with their trailers over the weekend.
“We’re just holding our own,” Whitley said, according to Sky News.
“That’s what we have to do. You just have to hope for the best,” she added. “But you can expect it when you live on the river.”
The rain storms have put an end to a recent drought, but the dangerous conditions brought on by the excessive rain have led to four fatalities in the last week, the Register Guard reported.