At least 19 people have died since the start of this series of bad weather.
By AFP
UA new storm began Saturday morning to hit California, which could suffer “catastrophic flooding” after already three weeks of unprecedented rainfall which has caused at least 19 deaths. A new low-pressure system should “approach the coast on Saturday morning and move inland during the day”, causing floods and landslides, the US weather service (NWS) predicted overnight.
The Monterey Peninsula could be cut off from the world by rising seas, and the entire nearby town of Salinas, which has 160,000 residents, could be flooded. “The entire lower Salinas Valley will experience catastrophic flooding,” blocking many roads, the NWS warned.
“The Monterey Peninsula could become an island” because of the floods, warned the local sheriff, Tina Nieto, asking residents to prepare to avoid being trapped by the floods.
John Guru, a local resident, stored four days’ worth of provisions in his house and two days in his car in case he was trapped on the road. “I don’t know how serious the situation can get,” he told the Monterey Herald.
A series of storms have battered California in recent weeks. Short lulls barely allow authorities to clean up the mess or restore power.
More precipitation on Monday
And it’s not over, according to meteorologists. A new “atmospheric river”, ie a narrow band in the atmosphere carrying huge amounts of moisture from the tropics, is expected on Monday, a public holiday in the United States. It will bring “new waves of extreme precipitation”, warns the NWS.
In the mountains, this precipitation translates into heavy snowfall, with more than a meter expected over the weekend in the Sierra Nevada. Enough to make travel dangerous or impossible. An avalanche warning has also been issued.
California is used to extreme weather conditions, and winter storms are common. Such a sequence, on the other hand, is unusual.
