SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As a massive storm approached California on Wednesday, officials began ordering evacuations in a high-risk coastal area where mudslides have killed 23 people in 2018, while residents in other parts of the state rushed to find sandbags and prepare for flooding. . and power outages.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to allow for a quick response and help clean up from another powerful storm days earlier. Dozens of flights were canceled at San Francisco International Airport, and South San Francisco schools canceled classes Thursday as a precaution. As the storm intensified, state officials warned Northern California residents to stay off the roads.
The first evacuations were ordered for those living in areas marked by three recent wildfires in Santa Barbara County, where heavy rains are expected overnight and could cause widespread flooding and unleash debris flows in several areas. Among them is the town of Montecito, which is home to many celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle.
“We anticipate this could be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to hit California in the last five years,” said Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Officials asked drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary and to stay informed by signing up for updates from emergency officials about downed trees, downed power lines and flooding. In Northern California, a 25-mile (40-kilometer) stretch of Highway 101 was closed between the towns of Trinidad and Orick due to several downed trees.
Before the storm hit Wednesday night, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said people should evacuate areas affected by last year’s Alisal Fire, the 2019 Cave Fire and the devastating 2017 Thomas Fire, one of largest in California history.
On January 9, 2018, massive torrents carrying huge boulders, mud and debris tore through the Coast Mountains and the town of Montecito to the shore, killing 23 people and destroying more than 100 homes. Among those killed were two children whose bodies were never found.
Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said Wednesday that homes near waterways are at the greatest risk.
“What we’re talking about here is a lot of water coming off the hilltops, coming down into streams and torrents, and as it goes down, it picks up momentum, and that’s the initial danger,” he said.
Storms over the past 30 days have produced 8 to 13 inches of rain, drenching the coastal foothills of Santa Barbara County. The current storm is expected to drop up to 10 inches of rain in the area, Taylor said.
“This accumulated rain … is what causes our risk,” he said.
The storm, which is expected to be in Northern California by Wednesday evening, is one of three so-called atmospheric river storms to hit the drought-stricken state in the past week. Because the states’ major water bodies are at record levels after a three-year drought, they have plenty of room to fill with more water from the impending storm, officials said.
However, the trees are already stressed from years of limited rainfall. Now that the soil is suddenly saturated and the winds are strong, trees are more likely to fall. That could cause widespread power outages or create flooding risks, said Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
“We are in the middle of a flood emergency and also in the middle of a drought emergency,” he said during an emergency conference.
The storm comes just days after a New Year’s Eve downpour forced the evacuation of rural Northern California communities and saved several drivers from flooded roads. Several levees south of Sacramento were damaged.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, 8,500 sandbags distributed by officials on Wednesday were not enough to meet demand as forecasters warned of imminent flooding. The South San Francisco Unified School District announced that classes for its 8,000 students will be canceled Thursday “out of an abundance of caution.”
Heavy rain is expected Wednesday and Thursday, accompanied by wind gusts of up to 60 mph (96 km/h), making driving conditions difficult, the National Weather Service said. In Southern California, the storm is expected to peak overnight, with Santa Barbara and Ventura counties likely to see more rain, forecasters said.
Aaron Johnson, Pacific Gas & Electric’s regional vice president for the Bay Area, said the company has more than 3,000 employees working in teams of three to five to assess equipment damage and restore power as soon as possible.
Robert O’Neill, an insurance broker who lives and works just south of San Francisco, said he stood in line to get sandbags for a colleague’s garage and house to prepare for the storm.
As president of Town & Country Insurance Services, he offered employees the option to work from home Wednesday, which many did, he said. She plans to leave the office early and head home, where she has bags full of clothes, medicine, electronic chargers and important documents. He has sleeping bags and three days of water, nuts and protein bars.
“We’re in a big city so we wouldn’t be stuck for too long, but you never know,” he said.
California’s storms are still not enough to officially end the drought, which is now in its fourth year. The US Drought Monitor showed most of the state was in severe to extreme drought conditions.
Elsewhere in the Midwest, heavy ice and snow hit this week, closing schools in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and causing a plane to skid onto an icy runway after landing in a snowstorm in Minneapolis. No passengers were injured, Delta Airlines said.
To the south, a possible tornado destroyed homes, downed trees and flipped a vehicle on its side in Montgomery, Alabama early Wednesday. Christina Thornton, director of the Montgomery Emergency Management Agency, said radar indicated a possible but unconfirmed tornado. The storm had extremely strong winds and moved into the area before dawn, he said.
Staff at the National Weather Service’s Chicago office planned to survey storm damage Wednesday after at least six tornadoes, the rarest January tornadoes recorded in the state since 1989.
Associated Press writers Janie Har in San Francisco, Sophie Austin in Sacramento, Calif., Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
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