Oroville Dam: 188,000 under evacuation orders amid spillway threat

As many as 188,000 people were evacuated from their homes in California yesterday after it appeared the US's tallest dam, the Oroville Dam, was on the verge of failing.

Although the dam itself remains structurally sound, an emergency spillway is eroding, prompting fears it could release floodwaters on to the towns below.

Weeks of heavy rain have caused the Lake Oroville reservoir to rise above its capacity and lap over the spillway, which is designed to alleviate pressure on the dam.

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Local authorities ordered the evacuation at 3.30pm local time on Sunday, when engineers noticed the erosion. Around an hour later, the California Department of Water Resources tweeted the dam was "predicted to fail within the next hour".

By 10pm, however, the immediate danger had passed, although officials cautioned the situation remained unpredictable.

Evacuation centres were set up in Chico, California, about 20 miles north-west of Oroville. Roads leading out of the area were jammed as residents sought to leave the flood zone.

"Panicked and angry people were sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to leave the area," reports ABC News.

Local sheriff Kory Honea said engineers had confirmed the erosion "was not advancing as rapidly as they thought", but added: "I would rather be safe than sorry. I would rather have people move out of the area hopefully to safety."