Helpful Resources

State of Emergency Timeline:

5:50 p.m. 3/21: Stay safe and stay informed‼️ Please note we will only use the alert text for emergency information. We urge you to sign up for both alert text systems. “If we can’t reach you, we can’t alert you.”
For regular updates, check this webpage or follow @cityofvisalia on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. 
☎TEXT ALERTS: Sign up for text alerts to be notified during an emergency in the City of Visalia. Text VISALIA to +18447137830 or Español to the same number.
☎We strongly advise residents to register for AlertTC with County of Tulare by visiting https://www.alerttc.com/ to receive updates from Tulare County.

11:00 a.m. 3/20 Repost from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The spillway is no longer flowing at Terminus Dam/Lake Kaweah - current spillway flow is 0 cfs. Current outlet releases is 6,000 cfs. Current inflow has averaged approximately 4,900 cfs over the past 24 hours and is forecast to remain under 5,500 cfs during the next storm event.
At this point, the current forecast and operations plan do not indicate spillway flow with the incoming storms.
USACE has coordinated with downstream interests to increase outlet releases up to 6,100 cfs now that spillway flows have ceased, in order to continue making room in the reservoir for future inflows.
Releases will continue to be adjusted as needed to account for downstream Dry Creek flows during any upcoming storms as they normally would, but will be allowed to return to 6,100 cfs once those downstream local flows have passed.

4:50 p.m. 3/19: Help us, help you!
TEXT ALERTS: Sign up for text alerts to be notified during an emergency in the City of Visalia. Text VISALIA to +18447137830 or Español to the same number.
We strongly advise residents to register for AlertTC with County of Tulare by visiting https://www.alerttc.com/ to receive updates from Tulare County. AlertTC is the Tulare County's emergency notification system that informs the public of emergencies and other time-sensitive messages. You may now also select multiple locations for which to receive alerts, and manage multiple family members' contact information from your account. Text messages may also be sent to cell phones, e-mail accounts and hearing impaired receiving devices (TDD/TTY). In dire situations, law enforcement will notify residents in person of the emergency.
Emergency Operation Center 24-hr. Hotline: (559) 713-4600.

2:30 p.m. 3/18: 💦 UPDATE as of 2:30pm 3/18: It’s a beautiful day in Visalia, so we urge residents to prepare for the rain forecasted Sunday - Wednesday. We continue to receive water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah.

Last night, the spillway stopped flowing! 👍🏼 However, we continue to see outlet releases (regular releases) and have heard from the US Army Corps of Engineers that they are constantly monitoring the amount of water released to ensure they balance downstream levels as much as possible. They are attempting to make more room in the lake to prepare to receive even more water over the next few days from rain and snowmelt.

5:00 p.m. 3/17: UPDATE: City of Visalia continues to monitor all water levels and is operating a 24-hour Emergency Operation Center to manage the current situation. Rain is in the forecast Sunday - Wednesday. With more rain and more snowmelt, the local state of emergency is not over and our waterways may be even more impacted next week.

We urge residents to be prepared for all possible scenarios and plan ahead! While we are enjoying nice weather before the coming rain, prepare your home and your family.

HOW CAN YOU BE PREPARED?
💧 To make a family plan, use this resource: https://www.ready.gov/plan-form
💧 To prepare an emergency kit, use this list: https://www.ready.gov/kit
💧 For more preparation tips and information, visit: https://www.floodsmart.gov/first-prepare-flooding
💧 Use sandbags to prepare your home. Pre-filled sandbags are available at Tulare County Fire Stations!
For Visalia residents, sand stations are available at the Visalia Corporation Yard (355 N. Cain St.) and at Fire Station 55 (6921 W. Ferguson Ave.) 24-hours a day. Residents must bring their own shovel and fill their own bags at these stations. We advise residents purchase bags at local hardware stores if they are in need of more. Residents can get free bags at the station, but are limited to 8 bags per household.
For disabled or elderly Visalia residents, Visalia Fire Station 54 (440 Ferguson St.) has prefilled sandbags available.

☎ TEXT ALERTS: Sign up for text alerts to be notified during an emergency in the City of Visalia. Text VISALIA to +18447137830 or Español to the same number.
NOTE: We are aware that some confirmation messages are delayed or not delivered. If you did not receive a confirmation text and want to ensure your number is signed up to receive emergency texts, send us a private message with your number and we will confirm with you.
☎ We also advise residents to register for AlertTC with County of Tulare by visiting https://www.alerttc.com/ to receive updates from Tulare County.
📳 Make sure your post notifications are on so you are notified when we post on our page.

4:50 p.m. 3/16 Repost from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 
Lot's of questions in regard to Terminus Dam/Lake Kaweah today...understandably so. And we've got a few answers.
First, here’s a quick afternoon update:
The spillway at Terminus Dam/Lake Kaweah was activated around 9:00 this morning, meaning that water began flowing over the fusegates and into the spillway.
The spillway is currently flowing at approximately 1,100 cubic feet per second. The peak flow is forecast to be approximately 1,200 cfs by this evening, then declining and ending by tomorrow afternoon.
We’ve increased the outlet releases to 5,500 cfs to help reduce debris flow through the spillway and to keep the spillway flow minimized.
The spillway is working as intended. There is still sufficient storage space remaining in Lake Kaweah before reaching the crest of Terminus Dam and we do not expect to reach that crest with this event.

Now for some of your questions.
_______________________________
Some of these topics could and do fill large manuals, so there is way too much technical detail on many of these...more than we can get into in a FB post.
But we're going to try and provide some simple answers to some of your questions here. Let's go:
Q: What does “activated” mean when you say the spillway has been activated?
A: When we say the spillway has been “activated,” it means that water is flowing over the fusegates and into the spillway. This does not mean that any of the fusegates have “tipped.” The fusegates in the Terminus Dam spillway don’t begin to tip until elevation 738 feet and we are currently at elevation 715 feet.
Q: At What elevation does water flow through the Terminus Dam spillway?
A: Water begins to flow over the fusegates and into the spillway at elevation 715 feet, which we reached earlier this morning.
Q: At what elevation does the Terminus Dam fusegates begin to “tip”?
A: The fusegates begin to “tip” at elevation 738 feet, approximately 23 feet above the top of the fusegates and 23 feet above where the lake elevation currently sits.
Q: What is top of dam elevation?
A: Elevation at the top of the dam is 750’.
Q: What is the lake elevation and acre-feet capacity breach point for spillway gates to begin flow.
A: Spillway flow begins at 185,630 acre-feet and elevation 715 feet. The fusegates won’t tip until elevation 738 feet. Top of Terminus Dam elevation is 750 feet.
Q: Water control data shows outflow at x,xxx but USACE social says it’s y,yyy. Why doesn’t the data match?
A: This is a dynamically changing event with updates occurring throughout the day/night. During such an event, online data may take longer than normal to update and you may see small discrepancies between the online data and the data you see us share via social media.
If you like combing through the technical data, visit our Water Control Data System to track hourly numbers - https://www.spk-wc.usace.army.mil/reports/hourly.html - but again, the numbers you see on this site and the actual numbers may differ slightly as our systems try play catch up during such an event.
Q: What is the max CFS that can be released from the dam via the outlet and via the spillway?
A: Spillway capacity is 308,400 cfs. Outlet capacity is 8,900 cfs.
USACE Sacramento District remains in constant communication with Tulare County and the City of Visalia to ensure they have most current data in order to inform their decision making process. Please continue to monitor those agencies for the latest emergency response and evacuation information.
County of Tulare City of Visalia

6:30 a.m. 3/16: Early this morning, Lake Kaweah reached capacity according to the data provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The City of Visalia has been actively monitoring the water levels not just at Terminus Dam, but at waterways throughout Visalia such as Dry Creek, St. John’s, Mill Creek, and others.

With the lake at capacity, the City of Visalia is preparing to receive additional flows downstream that may reach Visalia later this morning. The additional flow could cause several waterways in Visalia to reach capacity and spill over at various points with some localized flooding near the waterways.

“We have been monitoring water levels 24-hours a day and have been preparing for this situation,” said City of Visalia Fire Department Chief Dan Griswold. “Lake Kaweah is at capacity and they have activated the spillway, but we are optimistic that the flow being released from the spillway may not overwhelm our waterways in Visalia, but could exceed capacity at some points.”

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they have been reducing releases from Terminus Dam to keep the flows downstream, towards Visalia, within the channel capacity.

However, waterways that receive water from natural runoff, or uncontrolled flows, add to the water levels throughout Visalia and could cause various points of Visalia’s waterways to gradually flow over and cause some localized flooding.

No evacuations are anticipated in the City of Visalia due to the reduced releases from Terminus Dam and the work done in advance to control the water levels as much as possible.

The City of Visalia is still preparing to respond as situations arise throughout the City and will keep the public informed on social media, through text alerts, on this emergency webpage, and has made information available via a 24-hour flooding hotline at (559) 713-4600.

To sign up for text alerts, residents can text “VISALIA” to +18447137830 or for Spanish text alerts text “Español” to +18447137830.

“We continue to monitor our waterways here in Visalia, but advise our residents to remain prepared and vigilant,” added Griswold.

10:00 a.m. 3/15: Rain in Visalia is NOT what we are watching! We are actively monitoring the situation in the foothills and at Lake Kaweah. The Terminus Dam is operating as expected and Lake Kaweah is not at capacity at this time. The US Army Corps of Engineers will continue to monitor the situation throughout the day.

We are not expecting large scale flooding in Visalia, but we could experience localized flooding near waterways. We encourage residents to prepare their homes, especially if they live near waterways.

24-HOUR HOTLINE: Now Available! Please note this is for flooding situations or questions within City of Visalia limits. Call (559) 713-4600! ☎️

If you’re wanting to help:
👍🏼 Help fill sand bags for citizens who might not be able to fill them at 355 N. Cain St. or 6921 W. Ferguson Ave.
👍🏼 Drop off donation items at Tulare County locations:
- Dinuba Family Resource Center: 597 N. Alta in Dinuba
- Porterville Family Resource Center: 770 N. Main St. in Porterville
- Visalia Family Resource Center: 330 N. Johnson St. in Visalia
- Cutler/Orosi Family Education Center: 40802 Rd 128 in Orosi
- Lindsay Healthy Start Family Resource Center: 475 E. Honolulu in Lindsay
- Woodlake Family Resource Center: 168 N. Valencia in Woodlake

4:30 p.m. 3/14: Fortunately, a change in water flow is now expected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the chances of flooding in most areas of Visalia have decreased. No evacuations are anticipated at this time. The City of Visalia is preparing for some isolated flooding to occur around waterways. Localized flooding that can occur during a significant rain event is also possible and is expected early Wednesday morning through the afternoon. The City of Visalia still encourages all residents to be prepared and to visit visalia.city/emergency to learn more.

1:00 p.m. 3/14: The City of Visalia has declared a local State of Emergency and we have activated the Emergency Operations Center. We have been informed from the Army Corps of Engineers that we are likely to see more incoming water than we have ever seen. The overflow of Lake Kaweah and the release of excess water is expected to significantly impact waterways throughout the city as early as tonight. If you live next to a waterway, we advise you to prepare your home.

We urge all residents to take this emergency notification seriously and err on the side of caution. The city of Visalia is being proactive and making plans for potential evacuations throughout the city.

All of our departments are working with the County and local agencies to identify shelters and create evacuation plans. We are in a state of emergency so take precautions and get your families and household ready for flooding.

8:00 p.m. 3/13: City of Visalia Declares State of Emergency