At least two people were killed in a severe storm in the US state of California due to heavy rains and floods. Local authorities report that the state of emergency is currently in effect in 34 out of the 58 districts of the state.
In some areas, people have been asked to evacuate their homes and move to higher ground for safety reasons, fearing flooding. In total, the evacuation order concerns about 9,000 residents. Flash flood warnings have been issued for large parts of central California by the National Weather Service, the US counterpart to KNMI. It is an area where about 25 million people live.
“We will see more rain and heavy snow in northern and central California throughout the weekend,” said David Lawrence of the National Weather Service. The storm will continue until the middle of next week and more flooding is expected. Precipitation may reach 30 cm at some higher areas in the coming days.
Emergency
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden approved the emergency requested by Gov. Gavin Newsom, paving the way for financial assistance in response and recovery from the storm. This reports Nancy Ward, head of the local emergency relief agency.
California has repeatedly experienced unusually heavy rainfall since January. An unusual amount of snow has also fallen in the upper parts of the US state in recent weeks. In the Sierra Nevada, which provides about a third of the state’s water supply, snow levels are over 180 percent of the April 1 average, when it was historically at its peak. When that snow melts, more floods are imminent.
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