San Diego, CA— The relentless barrage of winter storms sweeping across California has brought widespread destruction and disruption, with no immediate end in sight. As severe weather continues to batter the state, millions remain under flood warnings and thousands are grappling with power outages, with roads transformed into rivers and landscapes scarred by rockfalls and mudslides.
Since the onset of these storms, at least 17 people have lost their lives. On Tuesday, California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot reported that nearly 100,000 residents are in areas deemed too unsafe to stay in their homes. The saturated ground, a stark contrast to the state’s historic three-year drought, poses an ongoing threat of further flooding and mudslides.
“Soils in California are saturated from above average rainfall over the past few weeks, which means it won’t take much additional rainfall to trigger flooding,” warned the federal Weather Prediction Center on Tuesday. The city of San Francisco even advised residents to take shelter and avoid travel for a period, following a flash-flood warning.
The storm’s impact has been felt statewide. In Northern California, high winds shut down Interstate 80 near the California-Nevada border, and routes in the Angeles National Forest were closed. San Francisco recorded its third wettest 15-day period since the Gold Rush era.
California Faces Unprecedented Storms: Floods, Power Outages, and Continued Hazards Amid Historic RainfallEfforts to restore power have been ongoing, with PowerOutage.us reporting over 75,000 homes and businesses still in the dark by Tuesday night, down from earlier peaks. Sacramento County was notably hard-hit, with about 12,000 customers without power.
Southern California has not been spared. Ventura declared a local state of emergency to expedite disaster response and secure emergency funding, following severe flooding and high surf damage. In Chatsworth, a Los Angeles neighborhood, four people were rescued from a sinkhole that swallowed two cars, underscoring the storm’s severe impact on infrastructure.
Amid these storms, the search continues for a child swept away by floodwaters near Paso Robles. The boy’s mother was rescued, and search efforts involving drones and potentially helicopters are ongoing, weather permitting.
Montecito, a town of 10,000 and home to celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Aniston, faced evacuation orders along with other parts of Santa Barbara County due to flood and mudslide risks. This incident tragically echoes a similar event five years ago when heavy rain on a burn scar led to nearly two dozen deaths.
The National Weather Service has described the situation as an “endless onslaught” of potent systems, with more storms predicted. An “enormous cyclone” is expected to bring additional atmospheric rivers of moisture, affecting areas from Northern California to the Pacific Northwest.
These unrelenting storms have prompted state and federal emergency declarations, with Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden mobilizing resources to aid in the response and recovery efforts.
The ongoing severe weather highlights the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, influenced by climate change, which has made such precipitation events twice as likely.
As California endures these historic storms, the need for robust emergency preparedness and infrastructure resilience becomes ever more critical in the face of a changing climate.