Storms don’t stop in California: Eighth in a row to bring ‘catastrophic flooding’

California prepares for disaster “Disastrous Flood” By the end of the week, forecasters warn Eighth storm in a row Dumping large amounts of water and snow onto an area where the soil is already saturated.

Rains in the most populous US state have killed at least 19 people in recent weeks and triggered floods, power outages and landslides.

A new low pressure system hit the region on Friday, threatening to isolate the peninsula Monterey And the city is flooded Salinas -160,000 people- the most populous state in the country.

The United States Weather Service (NWS) warned that “the entire lower Salinas Valley will experience catastrophic flooding.”

“The entire city of Salinas is at risk of flooding. Most of them In the Castro It will flood. All routes near the Salinas River will be flooded and impassable,” forecasters predicted. “Many roads, homes and agricultural areas in the Salinas Valley will be significantly affected Flood damage”.

The banks of the Salinas River are then expected to overflow on Friday Weeks of rain The flooding is likely to last until Sunday.

Los Evacuation orders They have multiplied, while Monterey County officials are warning Salinas residents to prepare for “two or three days of incommunicado” in the face of potential roadblocks.

The warnings come as the region tries to recover from repeated downpours. The brief lull between the two storms didn’t give officials time to clean up the damage before the next deluge.

between 19 people were affected In the state, drivers were trapped in submerged cars, struck by fallen trees and a couple killed in a rock slide.

“The unsettled weather currently prevailing in the west of the country (…) will unfortunately continue this weekend, with two more rounds of heavy rain expected,” the NWS warned.

Forecasters say the first of two hurricanes moving from the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast will spread rain north and form a group from northern California to the states. Oregon and Washington.

Waiting for 15 cm of rain For the next few hours around Seattle, a large city in the Northwestern part of the United States.

While parts of Washington state remain under an avalanche watch, the storm brings wet and heavy snow to the mountains.

The Northwest Avalanche Center said it expects “dangerous and large-scale” avalanches from this weather event.

These include ‘wet snow avalanches’, which occur when wet snow accumulates on top of a light snow cover, destabilizing the entire complex.

California is used to extreme weather, and winter storms are common.

But scientists say Climate changeDriven by human burning of fossil fuels, these events are becoming more horrific.

While this creates short-term disasters, rain is much needed in the American West, where more than two decades of drought have imposed unprecedented restrictions on water use.

However, climatologists warn that even the horrendous rainfall that will hit the region this month will not reverse more than 20 years of below-average rainfall.

Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, was about two-thirds of its historical average in early January, according to data from the Department of Water Resources.

(With information from AFP)

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