Massive dam system 'fail' in California

After intense rain in California, the country's tallest dam is facing severe problems as a breach in its overflow channel results in flooding of significant areas.

Upwards of 190,000 Californians have been evacuated following a break in the wall of an overflow channel taking excess water from behind the tallest dam in the US.

Overflow channels are designed to release the pressure of water behind a dam when reservoirs start to rise to dangerous levels. To avoid intense water pressure causing damage to the dam, overflow channels siphon reservoir water away.

But in the case of the Oroville Dam, so much excess water has had to be released that hydraulic pressure has breached the overflow channel wall and is now cascading down the valley in uncontained flow, resulting in the evacuation of nearly 200,000 inhabitants in the region below the dam.

Read more on this story from The Washington Post here