 [CNN] An even more potent atmospheric river-fueled storm is on a collision course with California after a first storm triggered deadly flooding and evacuations over the weekend in Northern California.
The new storm and another after it are prompting new evacuations in the Los Angeles area’s burn scars and a rare high risk for flooding from forecasters with months’ worth of rain and life-threatening flooding expected in Southern California.
At least one person is dead after flash floods from the first storm inundated Redding, roughly 150 miles north of Sacramento, according to Redding Mayor Mike Littau, who said police and fire crews carried out water rescues Sunday.
A police officer pulled the victim from a flooded vehicle, Littau said Monday morning, though the official cause of death is still under investigation. Officials have not said how many water rescues were carried out in the city.
Shasta County, where Redding is located, was hit particularly hard Sunday evening, with heavy rain flooding multiple roadways, including parts of Interstate 5, according to officials.
Nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in the Redding area Saturday through Sunday: One of the city’s fire stations measured just over 5 inches of rain.
Redding police said they responded to “numerous calls for stranded motorists” and urged drivers to avoid flooded streets.
Paul Mast posted video of his son standing in the middle of a Shasta County road flooded by a nearby creek. Mast said they were on their way to a family Christmas gathering but had to turn around because floodwater had washed out part of the road.
Shasta County wasn’t the only area underwater on Sunday: Crews also performed water rescues in Humboldt County, where the floodwater was chest-deep in some places. There were “numerous incidents” where deputies rescued people from vehicles stalled in floodwater, a sheriff’s office spokesperson told CNN. Several homes flooded, forcing residents to evacuate, in some cases by boat and jet ski.
While the flooding is subsiding Monday, there have been reports of washed out roadways, debris flows and mudslides throughout the county, the sheriff’s office said, urging residents to stay vigilant ahead of this week’s upcoming storms.
Farther east, in Placer County, rising water on the South Yuba River prompted evacuations. Officials issued warnings for multiple properties in Cisco Grove in the Sierra Nevada on Sunday and at least nine people were evacuated from one home there, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Early Monday, Sonoma County deputies rescued a motorist in Santa Rosa who drove into floodwater and had to climb onto the roof of their vehicle amid the rising water, the sheriff’s office said.
More flooding rain, debris flows and rock slides are widespread concerns with this week’s multiple storms. Strong winds that could potentially knock out power are also expected.
Much of California is under a flood watch until Friday.
| If only California’s dams had been maintained, there would be somewhere for the predictable heavy rainfall to go. If only fire hydrants were kept filled, brush and eucalyptus kept trimmed, and all the usual firefighting precautions taken instead of all greenery let grow wild in an inappropriate frenzy of nature worship, the soil would have been better able to absorb moisture instead of sliding off the hillsides. In other words, if only this had been anywhere except California under current management. |
# id) ?>
|
