At least 14 people have died as a result of the storm, as there is a risk of major flooding
LOS ANGELES – About 10,000 residents of the Santa Barbara County community and surrounding canyons were ordered to evacuate Monday after a devastating landslide killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in Montecito, Calif. continues to attack the state.
The National Weather Service said up to 8 inches of rain fell in 12 hours and more was expected. In the afternoon, the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety tweeted a “Life-Threatening Flood” warning for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
Under an evacuation order around Montecito, the canyon community lies under hills that have been burned by wildfires in recent years. Evacuations were also conducted in Santa Barbara.
Showbiz personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres and former sports stars Troy Aikman and Jimmy Connors were among the celebrities affected by the 2018 crash in Montecito, home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The death toll rose to 14 from a powerful storm that ripped through California on Monday, as two major episodes promised more destruction and more than a foot of rain. There is no 5-year-old boy whose fate is unknown among the dead.
Parts of the Sacramento area hit by strong winds and heavy rain could receive up to 12 inches of rain Wednesday evening, the weather service warned.
Santa Cruz County was also hit hard, with landslides closing both southbound lanes of Interstate 17 and the Browns Valley Road Bridge. fell into a small river below.
“Two of the most powerful and moisture-laden cyclone tracks … are headed directly for California,” the weather service forecast said. “The cumulative effect of repeated heavy rains … will lead to rapidly rising water levels, landslides and the potential for major river flooding.”
The first episode hit the state early Monday morning and is expected to bring up to 5 inches of rain along California’s central coast, the weather service said. Another one, planned for Tuesday, will primarily target areas in southern Southern California.
“Flooding in northern to central California could be widespread and even catastrophic in some areas around the Coast Mountains and northern and central Sierras,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Bauer. More than a dozen monitored river locations are expected to be above flood stage, he said.
President Joe Biden, citing “emergency conditions caused by severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides,” declared a federal emergency late Sunday and ordered federal aid to supplement response efforts by states, tribes and local communities.
NEWSOME EMERGENCY IS DECLARED:California Gov. Newsom is asking the Biden administration to declare a federal emergency ahead of severe storms
Other developments:
- The US Forest Service has issued an avalanche warning for the greater Lake Tahoe area through Wednesday. Avalanche warnings are also in place for the eastern Sierra Nevada.
- Residents of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Solano counties in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey in central California are under evacuation orders or warnings.
- About 140,000 homes and businesses were without power across the state on Monday, according to Poweroutage.us.
- The Los Angeles area will see up to 8 inches of rain in the foothills. High tides were expected through Tuesday. Wind gusts could exceed 60 mph along the coast and 70 mph in the mountains, prompting the weather service to issue a wind advisory for parts of southwestern California until 10 p.m. Monday.
WHAT IS AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER? These rivers of water vapor can stretch for thousands of kilometers.
18 people were rescued from the Ventura River during a flash flood warning
Eighteen people were rescued Monday afternoon after being stranded on an island in the Ventura River in western Ventura County during heavy rain and flooding.
Of the 18 victims, one required medical attention for minor injuries, seven were rescued by ladders, seven were rescued by air crews and four were able to get out, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
Due to incessant rains from the last atmospheric river, the district was hit by severe floods and landslides. A flash flood warning has been issued for all of southern Ventura County, which is expected to last through Tuesday as another storm front moves through the area overnight.
Flood Warning for Santa Cruz and surrounding areas
Bay Area Office of the Weather Service issued a flood warning to 3:45 p.m. PST for Santa Cruz and surrounding communities, home to more than 260,000 people and 75 schools. Also available in the office tweeted the video He pointed out that Highway 101 – a major artery – had “turned into a moving river” and advised motorists to avoid flood waters.
Evacuation orders have been issued for about 32,000 residents in Santa Cruz County who live near fast-flooding rivers and streams, Deputy County Administrative Officer Melody Serino said.
Parts of the community of Felton in the Santa Cruz Mountains were flooded Monday morning when the San Lorenzo River overflowed its banks, leaving cars partially submerged.
Nicole Beardsley, a teacher who grew up and lives in Felton, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she was on her way to work when she ran into a submerged car on a flooded stretch of road and turned around.
“I’ve never seen a river this high before,” Beardsley told the newspaper. “I saw him approach the bridge, and the road was impassable, but it wasn’t that high.”
Some residents were calm during the chaos.
Nicole Martin, third-generation owner of Fern River Resort in Felton, said her guests sipped coffee, sat on cabin porches among towering redwoods and “enjoyed the show” as picnic tables and other debris drifted down the river.
The rising water halted the search for the boy who had washed into the river
The life of a 5-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters was in danger Monday after rescuers in central California were forced to call off a search in the Salinas River when flood conditions became too dangerous.
The boy’s mother was driving a white pickup truck when it was swept away by floodwaters near Paso Robles around 8 a.m., Cal Fire/San Luis County Assistant Fire Chief Tom Swanson said. Obispo.
Swanson said bystanders pulled the mother from the truck, but the child was swept away by the water and swept away by the current.
Up to 6 feet of snow is expected in the Sierra
More than 6 feet of snow is possible in the Sierra Nevada at the highest elevations before the snow clears Wednesday morning, forecasters said. The state Department of Transportation is warning motorists to stay off mountain roads after heavy rain closed a section of US 395 in Mono County along the Eastern Sierra. snow, ice and snow.
Nearly 10 feet of snow fell at Mammoth Ski Resort in the eastern Sierra, the National Weather Service said.
Why could the last storm be so damaging?
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who filed for a federal state of emergency earlier on Sunday, said the death toll had risen to 12 after nearly two weeks of storms. He warned that the worst effects of the storm were still being felt.
“California is in the midst of a deadly winter storm surge, and we are using every resource at our disposal to protect lives and limit damage,” Newsom said.
AccuWeather experts said unrelenting “atmospheric rivers” saturated much of the state and rivers and streams were swollen, leaving the state vulnerable to “extreme and historic levels” of storm surge.
FOR A CLOSER VIEW:The charts show how the coastal state is getting wet
HOW AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER EVOLVES:The graphs show an atmospheric river flooding the California Bay Area
Atmospheric rivers are ribbons of water vapor in the sky that stretch thousands of miles from the tropics to the western United States. From 250 to 375 miles wide, they fuel massive rain and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.
On Sunday alone, thunderstorms in the Sacramento area dropped up to half an inch of rain per hour.
Sacramento County is struggling to recover
Tens of thousands of electric customers were without power Monday in the state capital, more than 350,000 after 60 mph gusts knocked trees onto power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal District. Sacramento schools were closed Monday because six campuses were without power.
The weather service has issued a flash flood warning for much of the Sacramento Valley, north of the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills. Sacramento County Emergency Management ordered residents of Wilton, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Sacramento, to evacuate Sunday evening. Wilton has a population of approximately 6,000.
“There is a threat of flooding. As a precaution, residents should leave now before roads become impassable,” the Emergency Department’s evacuation order said.
Contributor: Associated Press
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