California has been inundated with intense rainfall since Friday, causing widespread flooding and mudslides. Though the rain dwindled Sunday, the state is bracing for another atmospheric river expected to make landfall as soon as Monday night.
That is forecast to bring more rain and snow — and more flooding — through Wednesday.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
has proclaimed a state of emergency in 21 counties
, and President Biden has also approved his request for federal assistance.
Officials said at least two people died in recent severe weather in the state. A spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said Sunday that the agency hasn’t received any notification of fatalities from local officials for the current round of storms so far.
The rain from the atmospheric river that made landfall Thursday flooded roads and rivers, and thousands of residents were under evacuation orders. A
river levee
in central California breached just before midnight Friday, forcing hundreds of evacuations and dozens of rescues as the small Monterey County town of Pajaro found itself completely underwater.
“There are about 1,700 people displaced from their homes in Pajaro, and the town is inundated with water throughout,” Monterey County Communications Director Nick Pasculli
told NPR
.
Atmospheric rivers form when a long channel of wind transports water vapor from the tropics, and they produce heavy rain or snow when they make landfall.
As of Sunday afternoon, about 13,000 California customers were without power, according to the outage tracking site
PowerOutage.us
— down from 37,000 Saturday afternoon.
The outages are concentrated in hard-hit Monterey…
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