A month's worth of rain from one storm sent a creek surging over a dam and out of its banks, forcing hundreds of people here to flee their homes.
The water rose gradually and the evacuation of 285 homes was orderly, emergency official T.J. Johannsen said Saturday. No injuries were reported."We have a swift water evacuation team and boats and helicopters available, but we haven't had to use them," she said.
She estimated that one-fifth of the town of 6,000 people in central Oregon's high desert was flooded.
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The region normally gets only 9 to 12 inches of rain a year, but more than an inch fell Friday, filling a reservoir upstream. Water spilled over the Ochoco Dam, turning Ochoco Creek into a fast-moving river during the night.