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Destructive winds and heavy rain lashed California on Wednesday, knocking out power to tens of thousands, causing flash floods and killing at least two people, including a child whose home was hit by a falling tree.
Officials have ordered evacuations in high-risk coastal areas where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018 when a major storm hit the country on Wednesday. Authorities are warning residents to stay indoors in anticipation of flooded roads, fallen trees and other risks.
It is the latest in a rapid series of atmospheric rivers – long plumes of moisture stretching far across the Pacific – to hit California. This is the “Pineapple Express” that originates in Hawaii and is drawn to the West Coast by a rotating area of rapidly decreasing air pressure known as a “bomb cyclone.”
In Sonoma County, Occidental Volunteer Fire Chief Ronald Lunardi said a child under the age of two died Wednesday night after a tree fell on a home, The Press Democrat reported. In Fairfield, a 19-year-old woman died after her vehicle hydroplaned on a flooded road and struck a utility pole, police posted on Facebook.
The storm brought rain to parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, where the area is in danger of flooding. In Southern California, storms are expected to pick up early Thursday, with Santa Barbara and Ventura counties getting the most rain, forecasters said.
“We expect this to be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to hit California in the last five years,” said Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said at a news conference that the city is “preparing for war.” Crews cleared clogged storm drains, tried to move homeless people to shelters, and delivered emergency supplies and ponchos to those who refused to leave.
The city distributed many sandbags to residents whose supply is temporarily depleted.
WATCH | California braces for potentially devastating storms:
Californians are stocking up on supplies and weatherproofing their homes as they brace for a potentially devastating storm that will bring heavy rain, strong winds and flooding to the state.
Winds of 136 km/h or more forced the cancellation of more than 70 flights at San Francisco International Airport and downed trees and power lines. Firefighters save a family after a tree falls on a car. The fire department reported a “large piece of glass” fell from the Fox Plaza tower near the Civic Center, although no injuries were reported. It is “highly possible” the damage is wind-related, the department tweeted.
Atmospheric river storms
More than 180,000 homes and businesses were without power in California early Thursday, according to poweroutage.us.
The storm is the latest of three so-called atmospheric river storms in the past week to hit the drought-stricken country. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in order to respond quickly and help clean up from another powerful storm that hit a few days earlier.
In Southern California, evacuations were ordered for people living in areas burned by three new wildfires in Santa Barbara County, where heavy rain forecast overnight could cause flooding and release debris.
Among the towns ordered to evacuate is Montecito, where five years ago boulders, mud and debris swept down the town’s mountains onto the coastline, killing 23 people and destroying more than 100 homes.
Elsewhere, the 72-kilometer stretch of coastal Highway 1 that runs through Big Sur was closed Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of flooding and fallout. To the north, the 40 kilometer long Tol 101 road was closed due to several fallen trees.
Drivers are advised not to go out on the road unless absolutely necessary, especially if there is heavy snow in the mountains.
Evacuation orders are in place in Santa Cruz County’s Paradise Park along the fast-moving San Lorenzo River, as well as in areas along the Pajaro River. Residents fleeing wildfires in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2020 are packing their bags as the towns of Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Felton are all warned to prepare to evacuate.
Sonoma County authorities issued an evacuation warning for several towns along the Russian River.
The storm comes days after New Year’s Eve rains led to evacuations in Northern California and the rescue of several motorists from flooded roads. Several levees south of Sacramento were damaged, and at least four people died in the flooding.
The storm won’t be enough to officially end the state’s drought, now in its fourth year, officials said.
Atmospheric rivers, named by researchers in the 1990s, occur globally but are particularly important on the U.S. West Coast, where they make up 30 to 50 percent of annual precipitation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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