Californians should prepare for flooding and possible landslides as “heavy to heavy rain” is expected over the weekend and into next week, forecasters warned early Saturday.
with Rescue operations are continuing in some parts of the state The National Weather Service said the storm hit earlier this week Bulletin Two Pacific storm systems are forecast to impact the west this weekend “bringing heavy low-level rain, significant mountain snow and strong winds.”
The first system will approach the coast and move inland on Saturday, the bulletin said, adding that there are “several minor risks of heavy rainfall” that could lead to localized events such as “urban and minor stream flooding and mudslides.”
“Moderate rain will continue through Sunday ahead of a second storm system approaching the coast Monday morning,” the bulletin said.
More than 15,000 people were without power early Saturday morning power cut. us.
According to an NBC News account, the Golden State has been beset by a series of storms since late December, killing at least 21 people.
Kyle Doan, 5, was reported missing Monday after being swept away by floodwaters near San Miguel. Authorities searched for Kyle all week, but again on Saturday had to call off operations due to water levels and weather, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office tweeted.
On Tuesday, the agency called off its search because “extreme weather conditions made it unsafe for first responders to continue their efforts,” according to a news release.
The sheriff’s office said Saturday that the search for Kyle “will be taken on a day-by-day basis” when weather conditions permit.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and federal officials urged residents to “remain vigilant” and avoid complacency as the latest weather systems approach.
“I know how tired you all are,” Newsom said in a speech Friday during a visit to the coastal region. Montecito Santa Barbara County was evacuated earlier this week.
“Be a little more vigilant next weekend,” he added.
His visit came on the fifth anniversary Landslide kills 23 people More than 100 houses in the upper class community were also destroyed.
The governor visited Merced County, which was hit hard by the storm, on Saturday.
Thanking members of the California National Guard for removing a catch basin built after the landslide to divert the rain, Newsom urged people to follow “common sense” and the direction of law enforcement officials.
Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, echoed Newsom’s message and urged people to remain vigilant.
“People will be complacent, but the ground is saturated. It’s very dangerous,” Ward told a news conference. “Those waters will continue to rise even after the storms pass.”
Damage estimates from the latest storms, which have already begun, are expected to exceed $1 billion after roofs were blown off homes, cars submerged and trees uprooted in parts of the state. In Napa County, motorists were told Avoid Highway 29 northbound due to flooding.
In Southern California, officials determined that a storm-related sewage spill into the Ventura River was much larger than initially thought. Two Ojai Valley Sanitation District sewer lines were damaged on Jan. 9, spilling 14 million gallons, the Ventura County Environmental Health Division said Thursday. Warning signs are placed along the river and beach.
Elsewhere, residents tried to salvage belongings, and rescue teams pulled survivors from under collapsed houses on Friday. A tornado-spawning storm system that killed at least nine people It barreled through parts of Georgia and Alabama.
The widespread destruction came a day after violent storms toppled mobile homes, sent uprooted trees crashing through buildings, snapped trees and utility poles and derailed a freight train.
Associated Press Contributed.
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