LOS ANGELES, Jan 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A bomb cyclone smashed into California on Wednesday, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain that was expected to cause flooding in areas already saturated by consecutive storms.
Authorities issued ominous warnings of threats to life and property for a vast stretch of the most populous US state, focused around San Francisco and Sacramento.
Forecasters said gusts of up to 110 kilometers an hour and intense rain could pummel the region through Wednesday, with the downpour continuing into Thursday.
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service said there could be “widespread flooding, roads washing out, hillsides collapsing, trees down, widespread power outages, immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency “to support response and recovery efforts,” while San Francisco established an Emergency Operations Center.
Bars and restaurants were shuttered as the city girded for the storm, with local media showing flooded roads, and reports of long delays on public transport.
Dozens of flights in and out of the city were cancelled or delayed, while around 60,000 homes were without power, according to the PowerOutage.us website.
Thousands of sandbags were distributed to residents fearful of flooding.
City officials said they were working around the clock to try to help people prepare.
“We’ve been working very hard to source sandbags from wherever we can in northern California,” said Rachel Gordon, of the city’s public works department.
The intense rain was brought about by a combination of a bomb cyclone — a sudden steep drop in air pressure — and an atmospheric river, where moisture-laden air is drawn in from the oceans.
Up to 10 centimeters of rain were expected in the Bay Area, with double that amount over nearby hills.
The Sierra Nevada mountain range was forecast to get up to 1.2 meters of snow.
The downpours come on top of a series of storms that have brought near-record rainfall over recent weeks.
On New Year’s Eve, parts of northern California were lashed by a storm that caused landslides and power outages, as levees were breached and roadways were flooded.
At least one person is known to have died after being trapped in a submerged car.
San Francisco recorded almost14 centimeters of rain on Dec 31, the city’s second wettest day in recorded history.
The western United States is in the grip of a decades-long drought, with below-average precipitation leaving river and reservoir levels worryingly low. — NNN-AGENCIES
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