Last Updated May 30, 2018 4:29 AM EDT
Authorities in western North Carolina have ordered evacuations in an area south of the Lake Tahoma Dam, which they say is in "imminent danger" of failing after a landslide "compromised" its structural "integrity." The National Weather Service tweeted an urgent message:
The National Weather Service declared a "flash flood emergency":
Local officials said a "class 1 emergency" would be in effect until state inspectors could evaluate the dam in daylight hours.
McDowell County Emergency Management confirmed "several hundred" evacuations at numerous campgrounds and residential communities near the dam and lake, and there may be more later since water levels were expected to rise. Old Fort and Marion are the hardest-hit communities.
One evacuee tweeted an image from the campground he'd left:
CBS Greensboro, N.C.affiliate WFMY-TV reports a mudslide in Old Fort forced the shutdown of a portion of I-40. Later, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said the right two westbound lanes and the left eastbound lane remained closed, probably until Friday afternoon.
WFMY says western North Carolina communities were on high alert due to heavy rains and flash flooding from .
Shelters were set up at two churches and a YMCA.
Lake Tahoma is a private lake in the mountains.