California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during a news conference Sunday that he is requesting a state of emergency from the White House as another round of storms targets the Golden State this week.
Severe storms in California knocked out power to more than 560,000 homes on Sunday.
A home in a designated senior living community affected by the recent ‘bomb cyclone’ flooding in Santa Cruz County.
(Watsonville City Councilmember Casey Clark)
Along with the power outages, the state has faced several days of severe weather events with two more scheduled for this week. The first storm is expected to begin on Monday and last into the early hours of Tuesday morning, with the second storm occurring January 12-14.
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“We’ve been in this for how many days and we expect to see the worst still ahead,” Newsom said. “We anticipate very heavy weather tomorrow, tomorrow night in particular, through the early hours of Tuesday morning.”
The governor and his team referred to these storms as atmospheric rivers, or storms that dump large amounts of rain, causing flooding, mudslides, property damage, and loss of life.
An empty vehicle is surrounded by floodwaters on a highway in Oakland, California, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. Another winter storm made its way to California on Wednesday, battering the northern part of the state with more rain and snow. It’s the second big storm of the week in the parched state.
((AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez))
In fact, 12 people have died from flooding during river weather events according to Newsom, making them deadlier than wildfires in the past two years.
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“These floods are deadly and now they have become deadlier than even the wildfires here in the state of California,” he said. “Common sense. Just be cautious over the course of the next week, again, particularly the next day or two.”
Fox Weather reported that the National Weather Service advised people in California to keep up with weather forecasts for the next several days as there is a “direct threat to life and property” from these upcoming storms.
This GOES-West GeoColor satellite image provided by NOAA shows a storm system approaching along the US West Coast at 9:16 p.m. a high-risk coastal area where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018, while residents in other parts of the state scrambled to find sandbags and braced for flooding and power outages.
((NOAA via AP))
The warming comes after a deadly bomb cyclone brought torrential rains, debris flows, damaging winds and high waves to the region last week.
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Two people died in the San Francisco Bay area during the bomb cyclone, one of whom was a child inside a house when a tree fell on it.
In Fairfield, a 19-year-old woman was killed when her car hydroplaned on a partially flooded road and crashed into a utility pole.
The last atmospheric river will push toward California Sunday night and early Monday morning, Fox Weather said, bringing heavy rain and damaging winds to the region.
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Flood watches have been issued statewide and are expected to remain in effect through Wednesday.
State officials have warned residents that just one foot of water can cause a car to start flooding. When drivers decide to risk driving in flooded areas, Newsom said, they are not only putting their lives at risk, but the lives of first responders as well.
Newsom said he has been in contact with the White House to discuss federal assistance with these storms and was set to make a formal request on Sunday. He added that he was confident that he would get the full support of the federal government.
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He also said that the intensity of these atmospheric rivers are not only increasing but also a result of climate change.
“The hot is getting a lot hotter,” Newsom said. “Dry is getting a lot drier. But wet is also getting a lot wetter.”
