When the Levee Breaks...In California

What happens when a levee breaks and it's not in Louisiana? There are thousands of miles of levees throughout the country, and some protect extremely densely populated areas, including in and around Sacramento, California. Well, two gave out yesterday after severe rain hit the region.

The breaks occurred as rain continued to fall across Northern California, with some residents evacuating their homes near San Francisco because of the threat of landslides and forecasters predicting continued wet weather for two more weeks.

Water breached a 30-foot section of levee along a creek in Merced, sending up to 18 inches of water pouring through a mobile home park, said Michael Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources.

Three trailer parks were evacuated, a total of 200 people, said Elaine Post, spokeswoman for the Merced County Office of Emergency Services.

South of Sacramento, a Consumnes River levee gave way, swamping pastures but not threatening any homes. The same area broke in January during heavy storms. The amount of land under water was not immediately known.

Sacramento had 5.29 inches of rain in March — 2.49 inches more than average, according to the National Weather Service. Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, San Rafael and Santa Rosa all broke rainy-day records last month.

The rain also is melting snow in the mountains, swelling streams in the Central Valley.

Were those levees built up to code? How many others could and would fail under similar circumstances, and were they properly maintained?

You know, the usual questions asked (and still not adequately answered about the levee failures around New Orleans).