California declares storm state of emergency

Residents of California in the US were bracing themselves for potential flooding and power outages on Thursday as a major storm brought heavy rains and high winds to the region.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, saying this would allow for a quick response and would help with cleanup operations from another powerful storm just days earlier in Northern California. 

Dozens of flights at San Francisco International Airport were canceled, and South San Francisco schools called off Thursday's classes. State officials also warned residents in Northern California to stay off the soaked roads unless absolutely necessary.

According to the tracking website www.poweroutage.us, about 180,000 households in California were without electricity early on Thursday. 

 

"We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years,'' said Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Montecito in the firing line again

The first evacuation orders were issued for three areas still scarred by recent wildfires in Santa Barbara County, where the heavy rains expected overnight could cause flooding or unleash debris flows.

One of them was the expensive town of Montecito, which is home to celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Britain's Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle.

Early in 2018, landslides stemming from coastal mountains and running down through Montecito toward the shoreline after similar storms claimed 23 lives and destroyed more than 100 homes.

Montecito Fire Department Chief Kevin Taylor said on Wednesday that homes near waterways were at the most risk. 

"What we're talking about here is a lot of water coming off the top of the hills, coming down into the creeks and streams and as it comes down, it gains momentum and that's what the initial danger is," he said. 

3-year drought followed by month of heavy rains

California has faced high levels of rainfall for the better part of a month now, but just as crucially this follows an abnormally dry three-year period more generally. 

This does mean that depleted reservoirs are well-placed to accommodate any excess rainfall that reaches them. But suddenly saturated soil can also leave the earth and plant life unable to soak up water as effectively as usual, and in the case of weakened trees also facing heavy winds, there is an increased risk of them falling. 

"This storm alone without the previous storms would cause localized flooding concerns and rock slides and mudslide concerns," meteorologist Matt Solum told the AFP news agency.  "But, with the recent wet conditions, a lot of the rainfall that's already fallen has already saturated the ground so any additional rainfall is going to run off instead of soak into the ground."

Weather forecasts also currently predict more heavy rain in the area later in the week and potentially next week. 

msh/aw (AFP, AP, Reuters)