SALINAS (California, US), Jan 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The latest in a damaging succession of storm systems blew into California on Saturday, bringing heavy flooding to already waterlogged regions and threatening snowfalls of up to six feet (two meters) in areas.
The latest system was expected to bring “heavy lower-elevation rain, significant mountain snow, and strong winds,” with “another surge of Pacific moisture” expected Monday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
It predicted “disastrous flooding” across the lower Salinas River valley, an important agricultural region south of San Francisco Bay.
The Salinas River overtopping its banks in many spots, at times covering farm fields for hundreds of yards (meters), even as the rain continued under leaden skies.
Governor Gavin Newsom, however, warned Californians that they were not in the clear yet: “We’re not done,” he said Saturday after visiting residents impacted by the storms.
Urging residents to remain vigilant, he said Californians should continue to exercise “common sense over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Nearly 26,000 Californians remained under a flood watch Saturday evening, according to the NWS, with tens of thousands ordered to evacuate.
The storms of recent weeks were originally welcomed — coming after years of drought — but by now have brought “disastrous” flooding, officials say.
Around 2330 GMT, there were approximately 20,000 homes without power, according to poweroutage.us.
At least 19 people are known to have died from storm-related causes.
The NWS said an additional two to three inches of rain (5.0 to 7.5 centimeters) could cause new flooding and mudslides, with parts of the Sierra Nevada seeing three to six feet of snow, and heavy winds buffeting central and coastal California at up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour.
The most populous US state has been pummeled by near-record downpours over three weeks — an average of nine inches of rain has fallen — with the Salinas Valley among the hardest hit.
Between storms, workers have rushed out to clear up some of the mess, shoveling mud from roads even in the heart of Los Angeles and using heavy machinery to remove fallen trees or clear rockslides.
Winter storms are not unusual in California. But global warming is making them wetter and wilder.
At the same time, the western United States has been growing more arid for years. — NNN-AGENCIES
