Los Angeles.- Torrential storms ravaged California again yesterday, in the latest episode of extreme weather that has left at least 17 people dead since late last month.
Millions of people were still under flood warnings and more than 200,000 homes and businesses lost power due to heavy rain, hail and mudslides. Thousands have been ordered to evacuate.
Heavy rains have inundated roads and homes, closed highways, downed trees and swept away drivers and passengers, including a five-year-old boy who went missing in central California.
A storm that began Monday dumped more than 20 centimeters of rain at higher elevations in the central and southern parts of the territory and buried ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada with more than 1.5 meters of snow.
A new storm will hit the north of the state today with up to 18 centimeters of new precipitation and “several additional meters of snow” in the mountains, the National Weather Service said. The specialists warned that the southwest of the entity could see wind gusts of 97 kilometers per hour.
California described the phenomenon as “an endless onslaught of atmospheric river events,” the most powerful storm system since 2005.
While the storms have provided much-needed moisture to offset a devastating drought, their fury and frequency have created problems that are expected to last into next week.
