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Storm-ravaged California was scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage Wednesday as heavy rains fell in many areas, even as thunderstorms brought new atmospheric rivers to the northern part of the state.
The moisture along the coast stretches as far as the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, making it a “true Pineapple Express,” the US National Weather Service said.
The rain will only affect Northern California, giving the South some respite until more wet weather arrives over the weekend.
At least 17 people were killed in the storm that hit the country. That number will rise, California Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday during a visit to the picturesque town of Capitola, on the Santa Cruz coast that was affected by high waves and river flooding last week.
A pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist were killed early Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree struck by lightning fell on them, authorities said.
More than half of California’s 58 counties have declared disaster areas, the governor said.
extensive storm damage
The previous storm that began Monday was one of a series that began late last month and repairing the damage could cost more than $1 billion, said Adam Smith, a disaster expert with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Los Angeles. Reported times.
Crews are working to reopen highways that were closed by rockslides, flooded by floods or smothered with mud while more than 10,000 people who were ordered out of the city on the central coast were allowed to go home.
They include Montecito, an affluent Santa Barbara County community that is home to Prince Harry and other celebrities where 23 people died and more than 100 homes were destroyed in a mudslide five years ago.
But thousands of people living near flooded rivers and streams remain under evacuation orders. In the San Joaquin Valley, raging waters from Bear Creek flooded parts of the town of Merced and neighboring Planada, a small farming community on the highway leading to Yosemite National Park.
All 4,000 residents of Planada were ordered to leave Tuesday morning. Neighbors were in the water with their cars submerged up to their roofs. Residents were told to evacuate with whatever they could save on their backs as they left the rain.
Another evacuation was ordered due to a levee breach in parts of Monterey County.
Drought continues in many countries
Despite the rain, most of the state remains in mild or severe drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor.
The storm may help locally “but it won’t solve the long-term drought challenges,” said Rick Spinrad, NOAA administrator.
Damage from the storm included washed-out roads and businesses flooded by six-meter surf that pounded Santa Cruz County.
Many areas have experienced unprecedented rainfall, coupled with gusty winds and even hail and lightning that have knocked down trees and downed power lines.
Mudslides destroyed several homes in an expensive Los Angeles hillside neighborhood, while on the coast a sinkhole destroyed 15 homes in the rural Santa Barbara County community of Orcutt.
Kevin Costner, winner of best actor in a television drama series for Yellowstone, was unable to attend Tuesday’s Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles due to the weather. Presenter Regina Hall said she was evacuating in Santa Barbara because of the flooding.
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