Several warnings were still valid in California of the possibility of flooding after a severe storm passed, which deprived tens of thousands of people from electricity, and killed at least two people, while weather experts expect other storms.
And a storm hit the center and north of the state, accompanied by winds that sometimes reached 160 kilometers per hour in some areas, and with heavy rain. It also caused many floods, blocking roads and depriving more than 190,000 homes of electricity, according to the specialized “Power Outage” website.
At least two people, including a small child, were killed in a mobile home that had been hit by a tree.
The storm hit California while the region was still suffering from a series of violent storms recorded at the end of December.
The latest storm dates back to New Year’s Eve and has caused floods, power outages and waterlogged soils. The US Meteorological Service said that San Francisco has known the ten rainiest days since 1871, with 28 centimeters falling.
The rains began to recede Thursday, but the authorities continued to call for caution. New rainstorms are expected in the coming days, while the waterlogged soil is unable to absorb more.
The National Weather Service said flood warnings “remain in effect for central California and the coast through Friday morning” local time.
The utility predicted a new rainstorm as of Friday evening in northern California and southwestern Oregon. It warned that “additional precipitation ranging between 7.6 and 15.2 centimeters could exacerbate flooding across the region.”
And the Meteorological Service indicated that heavy rains may be recorded in California in mid-January as well.
And the rains of recent days are caused by a phenomenon known as the atmospheric river, which is a metaphor for a narrow strip in the atmosphere that resembles a river carrying a large amount of moisture from the tropics, which is not uncommon in California in winter. But it is currently accompanied by a “cyclonic bomb” that is able to reduce pressure suddenly and very quickly, which generates very strong winds.
While it is difficult to establish a direct link between this storm and climate change, scientists regularly report that climate change increases the frequency and intensity of these extreme events.
Like the rest of the American West, California has suffered from a generalized drought for more than two decades. In many areas ravaged by large-scale fires, soils devoid of vegetation are vulnerable to floods and landslides.
