(Los Angeles) Yet another storm swept through California on Friday, causing flooding risks and evacuation orders in several regions, already victims of a particularly rainy winter in recent weeks.
Up to 23 centimeters of precipitation are expected in places. This rain, coming from a rather warm depression, is likely to melt part of the exceptional snowpack accumulated over the past three months.
Enough to cause runoff that is impossible to contain for the state’s waterways.
Rain on “soil saturated” with water from this winter’s storms and on “the thick snowpack will cause significant flooding”, warned the US Weather Service (NWS).
At higher elevations, snowfall over the mountains of Northern California is expected to “cause traffic difficulties.”
US President Joe Biden on Friday approved a declaration of a state of emergency in California, to facilitate assistance from the federal state.
“California is deploying all the tools at its disposal to protect communities from the relentless and deadly storms that are hitting our state,” said Governor Gavin Newsom, who was calling for this emergency assistance.
Numerous evacuation orders have been issued, particularly in northern California, where seven rivers could experience major flooding.
California, the most populous state in the country, has a particularly rainy winter. In January in particular, a series of consecutive storms caused multiple floods, landslides and falling trees, leading to the death of 20 people.