A hazardous situation is developing’: At least 160,000 residents near America’s tallest dam are told to leave as water continues to burst through an eroded spillway – prompting fears of massive floods

• Residents in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties in Northern California are under mandatory evacuation orders
• Water falling over the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway has stopped as Oroville lake levels dropped low enough 
• Lake levels fell for the first time since Saturday and will now allow for inspection of the area
• The threat of collapse due to erosion has diminished

California has spent the last six years grappling with a brutal drought. Now parts of the Golden State are suffering from the opposite problem: too much water.

Extreme flooding this weekend washed away chunks of highway, derailed trains and inundated homes in Northern California. At Lake Oroville, a major man-made reservoir, water began flowing over a never-before-used emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam.

On Sunday evening, the situation turned hazardous for residents near the 770-foot-tall dam.

State officials warned around 4:40 p.m. local time that two of the dam’s spillways could fail this afternoon due to severe erosion.

California’s Department of Water Resources ordered residents to immediately evacuate from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream. A flash flood warning went into place for parts of Butte County.

City of Yuba City strongly recommends an evacuation of all residents immediately. Travel options are as follows:… https://t.co/rBM3IpL0qx

— YubaCityCalifornia (@YubaCityCA) 13 February 2017

Here’s where the evacuations have been ordered:

39,000 Butte County

65,000 Yuba County

76,000 Yuba City

12,000 Marysville