California faces new storms
After a particularly rainy winter, California faces new storms that raise fears of flooding due to already saturated soils.
More than 10,000 people have been asked to evacuate their homes across Monterey County.
AFP
California is battling between two storms on Monday: a dike that broke due to massive flooding forced thousands to evacuate, but a new storm has been reported in the western US state.
The Bajaro river flooded from Friday to Saturday, inundating houses and drowning vehicles. After that, the firemen went from house to house and rescued the people there. But by Monday morning, the breach had expanded to measure 100 yards wide, according to officials in Monterey County, south of San Francisco.
“Emergency repairs are underway to stabilize it,” according to the county, adding that no deaths or injuries have been reported in the area so far. More than 10,000 people across the county have been asked to evacuate their homes, and the Salinas River is also expected to overflow in the coming days.
“Atmospheric River”
California, the nation’s most populous state, enjoys particularly wet winters. Especially in January, a series of storms resulted in several floods, landslides and falling trees that killed 20 people.
The current storm, like most this season, is fed by an “atmospheric river,” a giant rain corridor that carries water vapor stored in the tropics, mostly around Hawaii.
If the rains gradually decrease in intensity, they will fall again on Monday evening and in the area of Tuesday, almost 5 centimeters are expected on the already saturated soil, so new flooding may occur.
Snow accumulation
According to Brooke Bingaman of the US Weather Service (NWS) in the region, the risks of further flooding are very real. “It is very important to leave the affected areas,” he stressed in a video posted on Twitter.
“Remember, it’s better to spend the night in a different place than to have a flooded house or realize you’re isolated because the roads around you are cut off,” he stressed. The surrounding mountains have also recorded snowfall in recent months, resulting in large accumulations of snow.
Fresh rain, coming from a rather warm depression, may melt some of this exceptional snow that has accumulated over the past three months. What causes runoff to clog waterways?
AFP
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