OROVILLE NOW BENEFITING FROM DISASTER TOURISM

Just a week ago, Oroville, California, was in a state of crisis. The town of 19,000 had been evacuated amid concerns the emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam might collapse, causing a massive flood. Now, the crisis has eased, and the residents of Oroville are discovering a boom in tourism. People want to see the dam and the damaged spillways. The Lake Oroville Visitors Center, which features a museum, a gift store and a 47-foot-tall tower with panoramic views of the dam, has seen its visitor numbers jump from 40 a day to 1,200 a day. Jana Dawson-Frazier, a local tour guide for the California Department of Water Resources, says, “People who only a few weeks ago never knew we existed now know our name and where we’re located on a map. I honestly think we can transform this situation into a tourism boom.”
* Thanks, but I’ve already had more than enough trips turn into disasters.
* They should sandbag this idea.
* So, you’re saying all Detroit has to do is build a panoramic tower?
* I just had a great idea for a town named Teetering Rock, Nevada.
* The internet has already come up with advertising slogans for Oroville:
– “Oroville – You’ll have the best dam time!”
– “Get Swept Away in Northern California!”
– “Oroville. You’ll have acre-feet of fun!”
– Oroville – Slip Slidin’ Away!
– “Oroville – a city on the move!”
– “Wrecked dam? Darn near killed ’em!”
– “Free car wash with every visit!”
– “Come for the flood. Stay for the mud.”
* I don’t know … I’ve been hearing about this dam for weeks now, but I still couldn’t find Oroville on a map. (It’s north of Sacramento.)
* One thing we’re not hearing from California anymore: bitching about the drought.
* Anyone remember that song, “It never rains in California, but girl, don’t they warn you, when it pours, man it pours.”
* Okay, it turns out that song’s about Southern California, but you get the point.
* See? I told you I couldn’t find Oroville on a map.