spillway
カリフォルニア州にあるオーロビルダムが決壊の危機に瀕しているようです。ダムが決壊した場合に影響が及ぶ18万人以上の住民に避難命令が出されました。
記事の中で気になった単語は"spillway"です。『Wisdom英和辞典第三版』（三省堂）を調べると「(貯水池の) 水吐き口, 放水路」などという意味がありました。Oxford Dictionaries.comには"A passage for surplus water from a dam"と定義されております。オーロビルダムが建設されて50年以上経つようですが，このような経験は初のようです。(Ume)
Oroville Dam risk: Thousands evacuate Californian homes
More than 180,000 people in northern California have been told to evacuate their homes after an overflow channel at the tallest dam in the US was weakened by heavy rainfall.
The emergency spillway of the 770 ft (230m) tall Oroville Dam was close to collapse, officials said.
The excess water has now stopped flowing.
However late on Sunday Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the evacuation orders remained in place.
Water levels in the reservoir have risen following heavy rain and snow after years of severe drought.
It is the first time that Lake Oroville has experienced such an emergency in the dam's near 50-year history.
The California Department of Water Resources said earlier on Sunday afternoon that it was releasing as much as 100,000 cubic feet (2,830 cubic metres) of water per second from the main spillway to try to drain the lake.
In a statement posted on social media on Sunday afternoon, the sheriff for the area around the Lake Oroville dam ordered residents to evacuate, repeating three times that it was "NOT a drill".
