Fresh storms are the newest in a collection of so-called atmospheric rivers which have deluged the western US state since late December.
(AFP)
Disastrous flooding may hit elements of California this weekend, forecasters warned, because the eighth storm in succession barrelled in, with already water-logged land unable to absorb any extra rain.
The most populous US state has been pummelled by near-record rainfall over a really moist three weeks which have already precipitated flooding, landslides and widespread energy outages.
On Friday, yet one more system threatened the state, with forecasters warning the Monterey Peninsula might be minimize off and the entire metropolis of Salinas — dwelling to 160,000 folks — flooded.
“The entire lower Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding,” the National Weather Service mentioned.
“The entire city of Salinas is in danger of flooding. Most of Castroville will flood. All roads near the Salinas River will be flooded and impassable. 90,000 acres or more of agricultural land in the Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding.
“Many roads, houses and agricultural land areas within the Salinas Valley may have main flood injury.”
At least 19 people are known to have died as communities have struggled to cope with the constant deluge.
Salinas River’s rage
The Salinas River, already swollen by weeks of torrential rain, was expected to peak sometime on Friday, breaching its banks in a flood that could last until Sunday.
Evacuation orders and warnings were widespread, with forecasters saying major roads could become impassable — including highways that link the Monterey Peninsula with the rest of the county.
“Residents each on the peninsula and within the Salinas space ought to anticipate to be minimize off for 2 to a few days,” Monterey County officials said earlier this week.
Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto told reporters on Thursday that residents were being warned they could be trapped by the floodwater.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power at various times as infrastructure has taken a battering.
And it’s not over yet, forecasters say.
Twenty-third year of drought
“The ongoing unsettled climate within the West related to the energetic Atmospheric River sample, sadly, continues into this weekend with one other couple rounds of heavy precipitation forecast,” the NWS mentioned.
Over the mountains, that was translating into snow, with greater than a metre anticipated over the weekend within the Sierra Nevada vary, making journey harmful or inconceivable.
Among the 19 to have died had been drivers who’ve been present in submerged automobiles, folks struck by falling bushes, a husband and spouse killed in a rockfall, and folks whose our bodies had been found in floodwaters.
Winter storms will not be uncommon in California, the place a lot of the annual rain is available in a reasonably concentrated interval.
But international heating, pushed by the industrial-scale use of fossil fuels, is supercharging storms, making them wetter and wilder.
At the identical time, the western United States is aridifying, with a lot of the area within the twenty third 12 months of a drought.
Hydrologists say the current rains are serving to — California has obtained a mean of just about 23 centimetres of rain since late December — however will not be a repair.
Source: AFP
