Biggest dam in US, Oroville Dam about to break; 200K evacuated after emergency orders

Los Angeles : Northern California residents went into panic on Monday after a hole was discovered in the emergency spillway of United States tallest dam that threatened to release uncontrolled floodwaters downstream.

Evacuation orders have been ordered for nearly 200,000 people who are asked to evacuate to safer ground. 

Following orders, residents have been in a state of shock are are facing long jams and queues as thousands of people are fleeing the area downstream from the Oroville Dam.

Best describing its location, the dam is situated about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco. The lake is about 75 miles north of Sacramento and about 25 miles southeast of Chico. The dam is the tallest in the United States.

Highway 99 is packed with hundreds of cars creating worst traffic jam as people headed north. 

Lake Oroville, one of California's largest manmade lakes, has swelled after a month of heavy rains. On Saturday water began topping the emergency spillway on the 770-foot-tall dam.