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CatastropheUnited States of America

California braces for another storm, Biden declares disaster

January 15, 2023

US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in storm-battered California as more bad weather is expected. Extreme storms have battered the West Coast state for weeks.

https://p.dw.com/p/4MCkR
Two women watch the high volume of storm rain water flowing downstream at the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles
Atmospheric rivers dump huge amounts of water over thousands of miles, bringing floodingImage: Damian Dovarganes/AP PHoto/picture alliance

Residents of the US State of California braced on Sunday for an atmospheric river storm that's due to carry on from late in the evening until Monday.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) forecast up to two inches (50 millimeters) of rain in Sacramento Valley, and another three inches (7.6 centimeters) of snow in the Sierra Nevada, in addition to gusty winds.

The Cosumnes River in northern California meanwhile continued to rise, forcing authorities to order residents of the semi-rural Wilton to evacuate.

Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at NWS, said in an interview that 2 to 4 inches of rain were expected to drop on the mountain ranges north of Los Angeles and east of San Diego from late Sunday into Monday.

"The worst of it is definitely behind us, but there is still that threat for tonight into tomorrow for some additional impacts," The Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

Late on Saturday, US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in California after a succession of storm systems caused death and destruction across the state.

He ordered "federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides," the White House said.

Rescue workers cuts away a large oak tree that fell on a vehicle, moderately injuring the driver north of Hopland in California.
California got more wind, rain and snow on Saturday making travel dangerousImage: Kent Porter/The Press Democrat/AP/picture alliance

Significant storm on Saturday

At least 19 people died in a series of storms that have caused havoc in California since late December.

A series of so-called atmospheric rivers has dumped rain and snow on California, cutting power to thousands, swamping roads, unleashing debris flows and triggering landslides.

"These weather events have taken more lives in the last two years than wildfires," California Governor Gavin Newsom said. "That's how deadly they are."

A beach covered in wood debris
Debris left by a storm on Rio Del Mar beach in Aptos, CaliforniaImage: Nic Coury/AFP

On Saturday, the first of two systems hit central California, unleashing more heavy rain.

It prompted emergency evacuations in parts of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and Sacramento counties.

More than 24,000 utility customers were without power as of Saturday afternoon, according to the website PowerOutage.us.

Next storm arrives Sunday night

"Another surge of Pacific moisture" is expected Sunday overnight into Monday, the NWS warned, while predicting "disastrous flooding" across the lower Salinas River valley, a key agricultural region south of San Francisco Bay.

The governor urged Californians to continue exercising "common sense." Dry days are in the forecast for California later in the week.

lo/wmr (AP, AFP, Reuters)