So far, at least 19 people have died from severe storms in the West Coast state, so the US government is now disbursing federal aid. California’s governor issued another warning.
Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in California due to the ongoing winter storms. The US President has officially classified the torrential rains and floods that have killed people in recent weeks as a serious disaster.
Late Saturday evening, he ordered the disbursement of federal grants for recovery and defense work in the affected areas. Before that in Alabama and Georgia has been announced State of emergency after hurricanes uprooted trees, tore roofs and left thousands without power.
The US government has said that at least 19 people have died since December 26 as a result of floods, power outages and landslides. On Saturday, a new weather front hit the coast with heavy rain, snow and gusty winds. In some areas, 50 percent of the average precipitation for the entire year has been measured in just a few days.
Heavy rains caused flooding in California. Fields and roads were flooded in many places, and power lines were damaged. According to the poweroutage.us website, about 20,000 homes were without power Sunday night.
The US Weather Service, NWS, announced Saturday evening that nearly 26 million Californians are still affected by flood warnings. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. A storm warning has been issued for the northern San Francisco Bay.
“Catastrophic flooding” was forecast for the area along the Salinas River, a major agricultural area south of the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area. According to an AFP journalist, the river overflowed in many places and flooded the fields.
