While much of California suffers from a severe drought, a series of what the National Weather Service labels “atmospheric rivers of rain” continue to force evacuations up and down the coast.
A five-year-old boy has been swept away by flood water after his mother’s truck stalled in a swift current, and while he had not been declared as a death to raise the death toll from 14 to 15, rescue efforts were abandoned after finding one of his shoes. His mother was rescued by bystanders who were unable to save the boy.
A two-year-old toddler was among the 14 casualties, having lost his life when high winds sent a redwood crashing down upon his parents’ home.
Torrential rains accompanied by damaging winds and surging tides have hammered the coast for days, forcing the evacuation of Montecito, a Southern California coastal community where Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry live in homes valued at well over $4 million per dwelling.
Not only the rich and famous are being flooded, but the flooding has extended into the countryside where barns are surrounded by water, powerlines are down and twisted like knotted fishing lines and roads flooded.
Scenic coastal Highway 101 has been closed due to rock slides and flooding, and cyclones have battered the coastline, tearing sections of piers apart before continuing to create more wind damage inland.
More than 400,000 homes and businesses were without power on Mon., and widespread flooding has been reported from north of San Francisco south to Los Angeles.
TV cameras have captured images of business owners shoveling mud out of their businesses and repairing flood damage.
Sacramento received heavy wind damage from a reported 60 mph blast that left 350,000 without power the first week of Jan., and on Mon., Jan. 9, President Joe Biden signed an emergency declaration for several Calif. counties to provide federal assistance.
Santa Barbara County has issued an evacuation notice for more than 30,000, and Santa Cruz County has also issued a mandatory evacuation notice to 32,000 of its residents who live near overflowing creeks and rivers.
The only beneficial aspect of the series of storms is that the rainfall has helped fill nearly dry reservoirs.
