Death toll rises in California due to adverse weather conditions
The National Weather Service, specifying that adverse weather conditions have decreased in the southern part of the state, warned that new heavy rains and storm surge are expected in the north starting Friday.
Authorities noted that the death toll rose to 17 after 2 more people lost their lives as a result of flooding, flooding, landslides, strong winds and lightning strikes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who visited the Santa Cruz area hit by heavy rains and storms, said the death toll is likely to rise.
Newsom announced that more than half of California’s 58 districts have been declared “disaster areas.”
THE STATE RECEIVED MORE THAN 400 TO 600 PERCENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL
Especially in the southern part of the state, with the decrease in rains and storms, some 35,000 people who were evacuated by the floods were allowed to return to their homes, while the repair of damaged power lines and roads began.
According to the Poweroutage.us website, the number of 225,000 homes and businesses that had power outages yesterday dropped to about 75,000 today.
Officials noted that in California, which has been battling drought in recent years, rainfall has been 400 to 600 percent above the seasonal normal since the weekend.
Speaking to the AP, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Rick Spinrad stressed that the recent rains may help locally in the short term, but they won’t solve drought problems in the long term.
California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis told CNN: “There have been five atmospheric river events in California in two weeks. Everything is wet. The soil is saturated with water. Everything is about to break and more rain is coming. she used her statements.
More than 6 million people across the state are still under threat of flooding, while heavy rains and storms called the “atmospheric river,” which are caused by the transport of moisture in the atmosphere thousands of miles away, are expected. distance, strike north. parts of the state. (AA)