San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LEVEE BREACH CAUSES MASSIVE FLOODING, FORCES EVACUATIONS
California drenched by latest storm as others on the way
A Northern California agricultural community famous for its strawberry crop was forced to evacuate early Saturday after the Pajaro River’s levee was breached by f looding from a new atmospheric river that pummeled the state.
Across the Central Coast’s Monterey County, more than 8,500 people were under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday, including roughly 1,700 residents — many of them Latino farmworkers — from the unincorporated community of Pajaro.
Officials said the Pajaro River’s levee breach is about 100 feet wide. Crews had gone door to door Friday afternoon to urge residents to leave before the rains came but some stayed and had to be pulled from floodwaters early Saturday.
First responders and the California National Guard rescued more than 50 people overnight. One video showed a member of the Guard helping a driver out of a car trapped by water up to their waists.
“We were hoping to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst case scenario has arrived with the Pajaro River overtopping and levee breaching at about midnight,” wrote Luis Alejo, chair of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, on Twitter. Alejo called the flooding “massive.”
The Pajaro River separates the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey in the area that flooded Saturday. Floodwaters that got into the region’s wells might be contaminated with chemicals, officials said, and residents were told not to drink or cook with tap water for fear of illness.
Weather-related power outages affected more than 17,000 customers in Monterey County late Saturday, according to the Office of Emergency Services.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Saturday said it was monitoring the situation in Pajaro.
“Our thoughts are with everyone impacted and the state has mobilized to support the community,” Newsom’s office wrote on Twitter.
The Pajaro Valley is a coastal agricultural area known for growing strawberries, apples, cauliflower, broccoli and artichokes. National brands like Driscoll’s and Martinelli’s are headquartered in the region.
This week’s storm marked the state’s 10th atmospheric river of the winter, storms that have brought enormous amounts of rain and snow to the state and helped lessen the drought conditions that had dragged on for three years.
Across the state on Saturday, Californians contended with drenching rains and rising water levels in the atmospheric river’s aftermath. By Saturday morning, many areas of San Diego County had recorded between a half-inch and an inch of rain, with Palomar Mountain recording 1.93 inches.
In Tulare County, the sheriff ordered residents who live near the Tule River to evacuate, while people near the Poso Creek in Kern County were under an evacuation warning.
Funnel clouds were spotted in the Jamestown area — the heart of California’s Gold Rush — on Saturday, and the weather service issued a tornado warning for the Sierra Nevada foothills as severe thunderstorms, hail and high winds blanketed the region. Tornado warnings also were issued in Fresno County. Flash flood warnings were in effect late Saturday in Tuolumne County, with roads submerged around Sonora and neighboring communities.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Newsom has declared emergencies in 34 counties in recent weeks, and the Biden administration approved a presidential disaster declaration for some on Friday morning, a move that will bring more federal assistance. President Joe Biden spoke with Newsom on Saturday to pledge the federal government’s support in California’s response to the emergency, the White House said.
Yet another atmospheric river is already in the forecast for early this week. State climatologist Michael Anderson said a third appeared to be taking shape over the Pacific and possibly a fourth.