A North Carolina dam failure is imminent after water levels at the Broad River rose 10 feet in only a few hours from Hurricane Helene.

Several counties in western North Carolina are experiencing flooding caused by heavy rain from what was Helene.

Emergency crews and residents scrambled Friday morning as Helene — the hurricane downgraded to a tropical storm — threatened to overwhelm the Lake Lure dam in western North Carolina. A mandatory evacuation was ordered Friday morning, as local officials notified the National Weather Service that a dam failure was imminent.