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“My heart goes out to the residents of Pajaro tonight,” said Luis Alejo, chairman of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. said in a tweet“We hoped to avoid and prevent a situation like this, but the worst-case scenario is that around midnight the Pajaro River floods and the embankment breaks.”
As the sun rose over the state, more than 9,000 residents were still under evacuation orders as the very wet storms common to the West Coast, which meteorologists call atmospheric rivers, continued to ravage California. This is the 10th time the event has been held in the prefecture.
By early Friday afternoon, the scale of the flooding was already unfathomable. In the San Francisco Bay Area, commuters had to avoid flooding and several roads were closed, including a major highway in Oakland. Tens of thousands of people lost power on Saturday after about 55,000 customers were affected on Friday. At least two people died, officials said.
The situation continued to deteriorate along the state’s central coast Salinas Valley – Often referred to as the country’s “salad bowl” due to the growing of leafy greens and other vegetables. In parts of the area, severe flooding pushed roads, rendering major evacuation routes impassable. There was another levee breach in the community of Cutler in Tulare County, about 150 miles from Pajaro.
Forecasters predict inexorable rains will continue into next week.
The main slug of atmospheric river-related moisture passed Friday, but central and northern California were expected to fan more moderate to heavy downpours later Saturday through Sunday. After that, yet another atmospheric river originating near Hawaii is predicted to make landfall.
An additional 3 to 6 inches of rain is expected along the coast by Tuesday, with perception totals in the double digits on the Sierra Nevada’s highest peaks. This is projected as an additional 4-8 feet of snow at the highest elevations, leading to further flooding, rapid snowmelt and avalanches.
Flood monitoring remains in effect at elevations below 4,000 feet in Central and Northern California. The National Weather Service in Hanford, Calif., said many of the streams and rivers in the flood stage since Friday will continue to rise over the weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology began issuing flash flood warnings on Friday as heavy rains combined with rapid snowmelt turned creeks and streams into roaring torrents.
The community of Springville in Tulare County, Central California, home to about 1,000 residents along Highway 190, was hit by a devastating “flash flood emergency” this morning.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” warned the Hanford Weather Service.
drone footage clearly Dozens of homes have treaded the water, with at least one structural collapse and many others on the brink of destruction.
In an online warning to residents, the Tulea County Department of Resource Management described the flooding as “unprecedented” and wrote, “At this time, road crews cannot sign all flooded roads.” I’m here.
Tulare County, southeast of Fresno and northeast of Bakersfield, reported up to 4.3 inches of rain in the last 24 hours through Saturday morning. The Sierra snowpack contains 3 to 8 feet of water, and may contain more in some locations. This means that the warmth of rivers in the atmosphere can quickly melt enough water to effectively double the water that flows into creeks and streams during snowstorms.
Meanwhile, the mountainous regions of the Sierra are considering where to put the snow that continues to pile up. Most of the snow falls on him over 8,000 feet, but the rain falls into the spongy snow below.
The Central Sierra Snow Lab, located on Interstate 80 near Donner Pass at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, measured 9.3 inches of “rain-soaked” snow cover on Friday and recorded 617 inches of snow cover since October. I’m here.
This turned the snow into cement-like sludge and in some cases caused structural collapse. In other cases, high avalanche risk remains a concern.
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