This California native was completely blown away when he saw the most unimaginable image from his drone after he let it fly over the nearby Lake Berryessa. As he tried to move it for a better image, something unthinkable happened.
Astonishing Sight
David Burgman captured this unusual image of Lake Berryessa, one of the largest lakes in Napa County, California. He accidentally took an image of this huge lake hole after he let his drone fly across the body of water. He was understandably surprised to see the lake hole sucking in a large amount of water at such a speed.
Astonishing Sight
Swirling Vortex
Water was flowing rapidly into the black hole that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the lake. Water was rushing into this gigantic hole at full speed as if it was being sucked down by some sort of force. People then began wondering the reason why such a hole appeared in Lake Berryessa all of a sudden.
Swirling Vortex
Come Closer
David wanted to know what was inside the lake hole. In order to do this, he tried to lower his drone a little closer towards the mouth. “When I lowered the drone into the ‘Glory Hole,’ it became unstable and almost crashed into the side,” he explained. David panicked and tried to struggle with the device’s controls, hoping it could lift his drone out of the rushing downpour of water.
Come Closer
What Happened Next?
Lake Berryessa is considered to be one of the largest lakes in Napa County. It has an approximate water capacity of around 521 million gallons of water. That’s an impressive amount of water! When the lake is in its full capacity, the water reservoir will rise to more than 400 feet above sea level. When the lake reaches its limit, the excess water will have to flow somewhere else. But where will the excess water go? Do you think that David will be able to retrieve his drone from the lake?
What Happened Next?
Flow River Flow
California is a state that is famous for its dry and humid weather. Oftentimes, people suffer from droughts due to the extremely high temperatures in the region. Theoretically, overflowing water should never be a problem in the area, but that has not been the case. During October 2016, the water in the lake did not even reach half of its capacity. Now people are asking how it is possible that there is too much water in the lake from seemingly out of nowhere.
Flow River Flow
Whether The Weather
In the first quarter of 2017, the state of California experienced many days of heavy rainfall. This event unexpectedly caused major damage throughout the region. The heavy rains filled up Napa County’s water system to its full capacity. This was why Lake Berryessa experienced the “Glory Hole” after it started to suck water into its swirling vortex. Luckily, David’s drone was able to survive the hole’s sucking force, but other people weren’t quite as lucky.
Whether The Weather
Glory Hole
Some thought the Glory Hole looked like a gateway to another dimension and we can’t blame them for thinking that. After all, it sat only a few feet away from the concrete edge of the Monticello Dam. Moreover, it had a vortex-like shape and it looked like it could draw anything in with its inexplicable force. David’s drone happened to be one of these things that were sucked into it. He was just one of the thousands of people were able to witness the power of this hole!
Glory Hole
Huge Plug Hole
The water level can rise up to the 440-feet mark. When the water rises to this degree, a catalyst effect will eventually happen. The “Glory Hole” starts to suck the water into its giant plug hole of a mouth!
Huge Plug Hole
Spiralling Out Of Control
It can draw more than two million gallons of water every single minute. A huge amount of water swirling down into its funnel mouth makes this occurrence an incredibly astonishing site for many people. After all, that is nearly more than four Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of water!
Spiralling Out Of Control
Sink Hole Surprise
The Glory Hole had been able to attract thousands of visitors from all over the country. Some of these visitors actually dropped by California just to see the site of the Glory Hole either on air or on the ground. It is indeed a marvelous thing to witness. However, the natural occurrence was also a pretty dangerous place.
Sink Hole Surprise
Internet Frenzy
This incredible scene at Lake Berryessa was able to draw visitors from other parts of the country. It is not surprising to hear that it also went viral on the Internet! Even people who were physically unable to pay a visit were able to witness this impressive phenomenon from the comfort of their home. Everyone was very curious about this glory hole.
Internet Frenzy
Instagram Sensation
Many Instagram users from all over the world began to discuss the phenomenon. People on the social media platform began to share, comment, and like posts about this swirling vortex in Lake Berryessa.
Instagram Sensation
Pornographic Connotations
Aside from going viral on Instagram, the event was also celebrated on Twitter. However, many Twitter users have begun to use the infamous and inappropriate nickname “Glory Hole” to refer to the phenomenon. Others thought that the said moniker sounds like it had pornographic connotations. Users were then advised to use a different hashtag of the picture like #LakeBerryessa instead of #GloryHole.
Pornographic Connotations
Give A Dam
Did you know that Lake Berryessa is actually one of the largest man-made lakes in California? Yes, it is in 7th place across the state. This body of water was created around the 1950’s, after construction of the Monticello Dam was completed. Standing at more than 300 feet tall, the Monticello Dam is one of the main suppliers of electricity and water for more than 600,000 people in the Sacramento Valley and the North Bay of San Francisco.
Give A Dam
A Sad Tale
Despite the majestic views offered by the Monticello Dam, it has a sad story to tell. In 1997, Emily Schwalek, a local resident of Napa County, suffered a terrible accident while spending some time in the area. The woman fell into the dam, but held on to the dam’s spillway rim for 20 minutes. She was desperately trying to keep hold of the concrete but it did not take long before she lost her grip. The fall caused her death.
A Sad Tale
A Thing Of Beauty
Spillways are considered one of the most important architectural structures in the field of engineering. However, their functionality is not the only thing to be admired about these edifices. People were also able to notice the beauty that these spillways have to offer, especially when viewed from above. Many thanks should go to David and his drone for this!
A Thing Of Beauty
Nature’s Finest
Dams may seem very bizarre for many reasons but are also considered to be one of the most beautiful man-made water forms. It is inevitable for these dams to face damages, especially when the rains are very heavy and high.
Nature’s Finest
Oroville Spillway
This situation means that a large part of the residential population has to be evacuated in case of sudden flash floods and tidal waves. There were more than 200,000 people who were forced to evacuate when they learned about the 30-foot deep sinkhole that appeared in the Oroville Spillway.
Oroville Spillway
Scary Situation
The Oroville Spillway Crisis had become a national phenomenon by then. There were mandatory evacuations for Oroville residents living in the area above Sacramento. Workers were able to discover that there were several damages in two spillways of the Oroville Dam. The site was considered to be the tallest dam in the entire country and it is one of the main water suppliers in California. The damaged dam was indeed no laughing matter.
Scary Situation
Water Rising Fast
Workers saw a monstrous hole in the main spillway of the dam. Workers knew that this can lead to the water rising at a very high level at an extremely dangerous rate. This was the first time that such a thing has happened. The government and the workers immediately jumped into action to fix the mess. They crafted an emergency plan and this included the mass evacuation of residents in Oroville.
Water Rising Fast
Urgent Emergency
Workers immediately turned to the emergency spillway of the dam. This was the first time that it had happened in the history of the Oroville Dam. However, despite this contingency plan, it was not an assurance that things would end up well. Workers didn’t expect to run into another problem as they released the water into the emergency spillway. To everyone’s surprise, there was some erosion damage on the emergency spillway. Upon hearing the news, everyone panicked and the officials ordered the evacuation of all the residents.
Urgent Emergency
A Sight Worth Seeing
The overflowing water from the Oroville Dam was apparently a beautiful thing to watch from afar. Kevin King, the operations manager of Solano Irrigation District, had this to say about the dangerous situation: “I went up there the other day and there were about 15 drones flying around and people taking videos. It’s really dramatic to watch.”
A Sight Worth Seeing
Shocking Spillway
Spillways are structures that come in multiple sizes and shapes. The spillways you will find in Lake Berryessa are called the “bellmouth”. This kind of spillway has a function similar to the hole that we often see in our bathtub or sink. It keeps the water from spilling out onto the floor when we leave the water running. In the case of the water reservoir, the spillway functions as the “hole” that sucks in excess water during heavy and continuous rainfall.
Shocking Spillway
History In The Making
This image is a photograph that someone uploaded onto their Instagram profile. It shows the Lake Oroville Dam Spillway in all of its splendor. Here you can see the auxiliary spillway of Lake Oroville Dam rushing down on the hillside and going into the Feather River.
History In The Making
Disappointed Visitor
A different visitor posted another picture of the Lake Oroville Dam with this caption: “My family likes to visit Oroville when the town’s getting evacuated just so we can drink beer by the Dam and pray it doesn’t break”. That’s certainly a beautiful photo, but we recommend prioritizing safety above everything else!
Disappointed Visitor
Life Is Like A River
This photograph is an image of the water being released from the emergency spillway. You can see the strong force of the flowing water. It definitely makes sense that people were ordered to immediately evacuate the area.
Life Is Like A River
Don’t Give Up The Day Job
The workers of the dam were considered heroes because of the dangerous job they had to do. They continuously inspected the damage and the slowly-growing hole inside the dam. People were able to see the devastating damage the structure suffered in the news.
Don’t Give Up The Day Job
Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls
This impressive photo shows the water flowing down from the devastated spillway found in the Oroville Dam. This is incredible photography, but sometimes you should not judge a book by its cover. It might look beautiful but this water also carries a lot of danger with it.
Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls
Interesting Footage
This fascinating video footage shows the big differences that can happen in just a matter of years. You can see the image of the dam after the huge drought in Oroville in 2014 on the left side. Meanwhile, the other photo shows how the water is overflowing from the dam after it suffered some damage. Who would have thought this could happen to the Oroville Dam?
Interesting Footage
Burglary Rates Rise With The Water
It wasn’t only water that was rising across Oroville, however. At the time the disaster was unfolding, crime rates also went up. Many burglars and robbers took advantage of the fleeing residents. Once the residents fled, these ill-intentioned people took their chances and ransacked the empty homes.
Burglary Rates Rise With The Water
Operation Repair
Helicopters were seen flying back and forth above the area as they ferried bags of sacks and rocks towards the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway. The workers slowly filled up the monstrous hole using these materials. They continued to make repairs on the damages spillways and cleared all the debris left from the dam.
Operation Repair