The governor of California, Democrat Gavin Newsomdeclared this Sunday a state of emergency for eight counties in the south of the state, including Los Angeles, due to a winter storm that threatens to leave rain and snow records.
In addition to Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties were included in the declaration facilitating the deployment of resources and use of the California National Guard.
Newsom did not rule out expanding the emergency declaration to other affected regions of the state.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Los Angeles said this Sunday that a flood watch is in effect valid for all areas of the metropolitan region.
More than half a million California customers were without power today due to heavy rains and winds, according to PowerOutage.us.
Besides, nineteen people were rescued off the California coast of Long Beach, after the mast of a sailboat broke due to strong winds, CNN reported.
Only one of them suffered injuries and the boat was damaged, but it didn't sink.
In a press conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said today that the storm hitting the region “is a serious climate event.”
“This has the potential to be a historic storm: high winds, thunderstorms and even brief tornadoes,” Bass added.
Residents of several cities in Ventura County fuThey were forced to evacuate due to the danger of flooding.
While thousands remain on alert for flash flood warnings that would force them to leave their homes, especially fire-hit areas and coastal areas from California's border with Mexico to northern San Francisco Bay.
The NWS warned that the storm could leave “historic” records of accumulated rain of more than 15 centimeters.
“Given the large amounts of rainfall expected in the period, 3-6 hour rainfall rates could be problematic, potentially leading to mud and debris flow issues as well as rapid water overflows into local rivers and streams.” said the NWS.
Strong wind warnings of up to 100 kilometers per hour are also in effect for almost 30 million people in inland areas throughout almost the entire state.
The foothills and mountains, which expect record snow this Sunday, could have wind gusts of around 150 kilometers per hour.
EFE
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