New storms hitting California
Flooding threatens an important agricultural region in the state.
SALINAS, United States (AFP) — The latest in a damaging succession of storm systems blew into California on Saturday, bringing heavy flooding to already waterlogged regions and threatening snowfalls of up to two meters in areas.
The latest system was expected to bring “heavy lower-elevation rain, significant mountain snow, and strong winds,” with “another surge of Pacific moisture” expected Monday, the National Weather Service said.
It predicted “disastrous flooding” across the lower Salinas River valley, an important agricultural region south of San Francisco Bay.
An AFP journalist saw the Salinas River overtopping its banks in many spots, at times covering farm fields for hundreds of yards, even as the rain continued under leaden skies.
In Spreckels, a community a few hundred yards from the river, most residents had opted not to evacuate despite warnings from authorities.
“It looks like we might have missed kind of the worst of it,” Robert Zagajeski, out walking his dog under a light rain, said.
A few miles away, 30-year-old farm worker Erick Diaz watched the flooded fields from his home near the river. Despite evacuation orders, he too had remained.
“I have nowhere to go and for the moment everything is fine,” he said.
Governor Gavin Newsom, however, warned Californians that they were not in the clear yet: “We’re not done,” he said Saturday after visiting residents impacted by the storms.
Urging residents to remain vigilant, he said Californians should continue to exercise “common sense over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours.”
At least 19 people are known to have died from storm-related causes.
Nearly 26 million Californians remained under a flood watch Saturday evening, according to the NWS, with tens of thousands ordered to evacuate.
The storms of recent weeks were originally welcomed — coming after years of drought — but by now have brought “disastrous” flooding, officials say.
Around 2330 GMT, there were approximately 20,000 homes without power, according to poweroutage.us.
At least 19 people are known to have died from storm-related causes.
“This place was hit hard by the drought over the past years,” 58-year-old farmworker Manuel Paris told AFP near Salinas. “We’re not used to this much rain anymore.”
The NWS said an additional two to three inches of rain (5 to 7.5 centimeters) could cause new flooding and mudslides, with parts of the Sierra Nevada seeing three to six feet of snow, and heavy winds buffeting central and coastal California at up to 80 kilometers per hour.