NEW CALIF. CRISIS
Deluge hits areas hurt by drought, spurs mudslide fear
Southern California needed rain, but unfortunately it’s falling all at once.
Areas of that region scarred by wildfires were drenched by downpours Tuesday, raising the threat of mudslides after a severe drought that’s plagued multiple states.
The National Weather Service said that close to 7 inches of rain fell in a part of Santa Barbara County before dawn, after residents near the Alisal Fire burn scar had already been ordered to evacuate.
There were concerns Monday that the then-forecasted rain could result in flooding and mudslides in the area, west of Los Angeles.
In Orange County about 800 homes were under evacuation orders Tuesday after a flash flood warning was issued and mudslides were reported in the area south of Los Angeles that was scorched by a 2020 wildfire.
Two vehicles were found submerged Tuesday in the Los Angeles River, and firefighters learned a third had been swept past a downtown-area bridge. No victims, if any, were located.
“It’s kind of scary out there,” said Dean Heller, who said he has seen a few minor auto accidents and traffic on the Arroyo Seco Parkway had slowed to a crawl because of floodwaters in some lanes.
“I’m just trying to get stuff done so I don’t have to be on the roads any more,” he said.
A similar order was put into effect for multiple communities near a burn scar in the San Bernardino Mountains.
It wasn’t just Southern
California that was affected by the multiday storm and atmospheric weather system, which was expected to result in more than 8 feet of snow on some of California and Nevada’s highest peaks.
Jeffrey Mount of the Public Policy Institute of California’s
Water Policy Center said the snow piling up in the mountains is welcome news — although not an end to the drought.
Melted snow that runs into California’s watershed in the warmer weather accounts for about a third of the Golden State’s water supply. Mount said it’s important for a good base of snow to develop in December so that storms that hit later in the winter have something to build on.
“You’re literally putting water in the bank up there,” he said.
Forty miles of Big Sur area’s Highway 1 were also shut until Tuesday because of the deluge.
The Kirkwood Mountain Resort ski area, near Lake Tahoe, closed Monday due to high winds and 17 inches of snow that blanketed the area overnight. Counties in central California were also subject to avalanche warnings.
California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Utah are classified as being in exceptional drought — which scientists have attributed to climate change — the most severe category.
California is expected to see another storm later this week.