KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Workers are patching up a hole found in a levee near Klamath Falls.
This isn’t the first time the levee has failed, threatening more than a dozen homes.
The hole in the levee was discovered late Tuesday afternoon.
“The breach was extensive,” Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot said. “Probably 6 foot in diameter, probably 35 feet deep and a lot of water was coming through very fast.”
The same levee developed a leak 11 years ago.
Neighbor Frank Tycksen says the newest breach is worse. “Oh, yeah,” he sad. “This is a bigger washout – that one there is big.”
The breach threatened 15 to 20 homes along Lakeshore Drive.
“There’s quite a few of them, that their house sets below,” Tycksen explained. “And if it breached and came up to the level of the lake, their houses would be partially underwater.”
While the levee is the responsibility of neighborhood property owners, the county came to the rescue and brought out sandbags.
“It’s my belief that the county is here for an emergency response, ” Commissioner DeGroot said. “So yesterday, the Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue, and Emergency Management responded to capture the immediate threat.”
Crews are opening the damaged area, filling it with rocks and dirt, and compacting the surface.
The levee extends nearly a mile along Lakeshore Drive at the south end of Upper Klamath Lake. It was built in 1927.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.