Oroville, California (CNN) With the water level at California's Lake Oroville dropping, authorities lifted a mandatory evacuation order, allowing tens of thousands of residents to return to homes near the reservoir's dam. But Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea on Tuesday cautioned residents and business owners to "maintain situational awareness" with a series of storms forecast for later in the week. "People who have special needs or require extended time to evacuate should consider remaining evacuated," the sheriff said. Heavy rains last week caused the lake level to rise until the water began to pour down the emergency spillway on Sunday. Authorities ordered people to leave the area when a hole developed in an eroded area of the spillway, affecting about 188,000 residents. Officials worried the spillway would fail, and one warned a "30-foot wall of water" could flood the communities below the dam.Residents are being allowed to return to their homesPresident approves emergency funds
Rainfall over the next week could total 5 to 12 inches and will likely push hundreds of billions of gallons of water back into _, Hennen said.