THE AP: SAN FRANCISCO Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and federal authorities appealed to citizens on Friday to be vigilant for further flooding and property damage as severe weather is predicted to continue in rain-soaked rain California over the weekend and into the following week.
Since late December, a slew of storms has battered the state, killing at least 19. According to Nancy Ward, the head of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, 20,000 houses were without power on Friday, and 6,000 individuals were under evacuation orders.
News conference with Deanne Criswell
At a news conference with Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, she stated that homes had flooded, levees had breached, and crested. Mudslides and hurricane-force winds have pounded sections of the state, including a tornado strike in Northern California.
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell, who was in California to assess the damage, stated during a press conference that homes had flooded, levees had breached and topped, mudslides, hurricane-force winds, and a tornado had touched down in Northern California.
“The ground is soaked, yet people will get complacent. It’s very, very hazardous,” Ward declared. And even after a storm has gone, the water might keep rising.
The persistent atmospheric river pattern delivered showers to Northern California in the early hours of Friday. Other surges of moisture, which will be stronger, are predicted to spread rain and snow throughout the state during the next several days.
National Weather Service
According to David Lawrence, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, a state that has been suffering from drought for 18 days has received more than nine inches (23 centimeters) of rain per day on average, a remarkable amount that has already exceeded the average annual rainfall in some places.
According to him, a storm on Saturday will bring widespread, intense rain and significant mountain snowfall, along with wind gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph), the potential for further tree damage, and power outages.
According to Sean Duryee, interim commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, there have been at least 19 storm-related deaths, half involving motorists. Some deaths may have been avoided if drivers had followed road closure notices.
On the fifth anniversary of the Santa Barbara County mudslide that claimed the lives of 23 people and damaged more than 100 houses five years ago, Newsom paid a visit to the affluent neighborhood of Montecito, which had been evacuated earlier in the week.
He complimented the California National Guard for cleaning the debris out of a catch basin that had been built to redirect rainwater following the mudslide. Additionally, he urged the populace to take caution and to pay attention to police and public safety advisories.
I am aware of how worn out you all are, Newsom added. Be more watchful during the following weekend.
Even though President Joe Biden signed an emergency declaration on Monday to boost storm response and relief activities in more than a dozen counties, Newsom is still waiting for the White House to approve a primary disaster designation, which would give additional money.
Flood advisories were in effect for the Salinas River in an agricultural area about 90 miles south of San Francisco. At least 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of agriculture were at risk of floods, according to the National Weather Service.
In some regions of Northern California, homes’ roofs were blown off, trees were uprooted, and automobiles were flooded.
The Ventura County, Environmental Health Division
Authorities in Southern California discovered that a storm-related sewage discharge into the Ventura River was far more significant than first believed. The Ventura County, Environmental Health Division, reported Thursday that two Ojai Valley Sanitary District sewage pipes damaged on Jan. 9 spilled an additional 14 million gallons. Along the river and beaches, warning signs have been put up.
Due to the anticipated rain, Santa Anita Park, located east of Los Angeles, proactively canceled Saturday’s eight-race horse racing program. The circuit announced that the races would be added-on events in the following three days.
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