An already storm-battered California is bracing for an additional deluge of moisture as another atmospheric river this week threatens more deadly flooding.
The state has been pummelled by widespread flooding and towering amounts of snow this winter, and photos show just how much havoc has been caused by the unrelenting weather.
Now, more than 18 million people are under flood alerts that cover much of the state, including major cities like Oakland, Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco.
Late last week, intense rainfall caused widespread flooding and mudslides, prompting evacuations and road closures.
A breached levee in northern California Saturday forced thousands to evacuate and, according to The Associated Press, more than 200 residents had to be pulled from floodwaters after they refused to leave.
“We were hoping to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst case scenario has arrived with the Pajaro River overtopping and levee breaching at about midnight,” wrote Luis Alejo, chair of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, on Twitter.
The weekend’s storm marked the state’s 10th atmospheric river of the winter, storms that have brought enormous amounts of rain and snow to the state and helped lessen the drought conditions that had dragged on for three years. State reservoirs that had dipped to strikingly low levels are now well above the average for this time of year, prompting state officials to release water from dams to assist with flood control and make room for even more rain.
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And while the moisture signals an end to the drought, it brings with it an increasing number of emergency situations and widespread damage.
The National Weather Service’s meteorologists have issued flood warnings and advisories, begging motorists to stay off deluged roadways.
In San Francisco, an 85-foot (25.91 meter) eucalyptus tree fell onto the Trocadero Clubhouse early Saturday morning. The 1892 clubhouse, a San Francisco historical landmark, was left severely damaged, with part of the roof crushed and the inside flooded.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared emergencies in 34 counties in recent weeks, and the Biden administration has promised more federal assistance to the hardest hit areas, approving a presidential disaster declaration last Friday.
The National Weather Service is forecasting an intensified bout of rain and snow beginning late Monday through Wednesday, with considerable flooding possible along the state’s central coast, San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and the southern Sierra Nevada foothills into midweek.
CNN reports that many residents in central and northern California, worried about the forecasted storm’s ability to exacerbate flooding, are already crowding into emergency shelters.
Officials say they are now worried that parts of Monterey County could get cut off by flooding on the Salinas River. They’ve also warned that the incoming storm could complicate repairs to the breached levee.
This incoming storm will travel over areas already buried by heavy snowfall in the past weeks. Some mountain resorts have accumulated more than 600 inches of snow so far this season.
The potential for rain on a melting snowpack increases the risk for prolonged flooding, forecasters say.
“Heavy rain and snowmelt may lead to renewed (more widespread) flooding from Monday to Tuesday, particularly in low elevations and shallow and warming snowpack areas,” the National Weather Service said.
— With files from The Associated Press
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