Thousands of residents were being evacuated in Michigan Wednesday after two dams failed following heavy rains and triggered what officials warned will be "historic" flooding.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Midland County, site of the breached dams in Edenville and Sanford in the central part of the state. "Residents in the area have been instructed to evacuate immediately," Whitmer said late Tuesday in an address from the state's emergency response center.