New storms to pound rain-weary California - Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — 

California is bracing for different week of destructive storms that volition apt bring flooding and hazardous winds Monday to an already battered state.

A bid of atmospheric rivers that battered coastal communities past week and near much than 400,000 without powerfulness successful California connected Sunday volition beryllium followed by peculiarly brutal upwind arsenic rivers scope flood levels and almighty winds wreak havoc, forecasters fear.

“We expect to spot the worst of it inactive successful beforehand of us,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom Sunday. “We’re anticipating precise aggravated upwind coming successful [Monday] and Tuesday morning.”

Newsom asked the Biden medication to state a national exigency earlier caller upwind arrives, saying that the astir utmost conditions are expected successful the archetypal 48 hours of the week.

Evacuation warnings oregon orders were issued successful parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, with forecasts suggesting that swollen rivers could flood businesses and homes.

“SEVERE WEATHER ANTICIPATED ON MON — AVOID TRAVEL,” physics freeway signs work successful the San Francisco Bay Area connected Sunday.

San Jose officials were gearing up for what could beryllium the worst flooding to deed the San Francisco Bay Area’s astir populous metropolis since the astonishment flooding successful 2017 of Coyote Creek, which forced much than 14,000 residents retired of their homes.

Water territory officials warned of imaginable flooding successful San Jose astatine the Guadalupe River adjacent the Tamien presumption of the Caltrain commuter obstruction system, affecting the Northern Cross neighborhood, Ross Creek astatine Cherry Avenue southbound of downtown, and Upper Penitencia Creek adjacent the Berryessa/North San Jose BART station.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District connected Sunday issued an “extreme upwind alert.” Flooding is imaginable successful the coming days successful Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

Evacuation warnings were issued downstream of 2 afloat reservoirs successful Santa Clara County: the Uvas Reservoir northwest of Gilroy, whose h2o flows into Uvas Creek; and the Pacheco Reservoir, which empties into Pacheco Creek alongside Highway 152 — a main way betwixt the San Francisco Bay Area and Interstate 5.

Evacuation warnings successful Santa Cruz County included towns eastbound and southeast of Santa Cruz, including Soquel, Seacliff, Rio del Mar and Watsonville, which borders the Pajaro River.

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said the Carmel, Pajaro and Big Sur rivers volition astir apt scope flood signifier connected Monday, and the Salinas River connected Tuesday. Evacuation warnings were issued on the Carmel Valley, wherever the Carmel River could flood.

Alameda County issued evacuation warnings for the hills eastbound of Hayward and Fremont and westbound of Pleasanton. Sacramento County issued an evacuation bid for the Wilton country on the Cosumnes River, whose waters breached levees implicit New Year’s Eve, sidesplitting 3 motorists whose bodies were recovered successful oregon adjacent submerged cars adjacent Highway 99.

As of Sunday afternoon, 424,000 customers were without powerfulness successful California, according to the state’s Office of Emergency Services. More than 375,000 customers mislaid powerfulness successful Northern California overnight Saturday arsenic the latest almighty wintertime tempest pushed done the region, elevating the information for flooding and bringing aggravated winds that downed trees.

In the Sacramento area, 1 of the hardest-hit regions, upwind gusts topped 60 mph and caused galore to suffer power, according to the National Weather Service. Utility officials person been moving to reconstruct powerfulness and said it volition instrumentality time.

Pacific Gas & Electric deployed 4,000 unit members dedicated to tempest restoration: their ain personnel, contractors and communal assistance from Southern California and arsenic acold distant arsenic Wyoming and Canada.

“We are conscionable getting repeatedly pounded by tempest aft storm,” said Tracy Correa Lopez, a spokeswoman with PG&E. “Flooding is an issue. The fig 1 contented close present is entree to a batch of these areas.”

Flooding, downed trees and unstable ungraded contributing to falling stone and debris flows are each apt to airs hazards for crews seeking entree to crook the powerfulness backmost on, Correa Lopez said.

For days, forecasters had warned of a “relentless parade of cyclones” barreling retired of the Pacific toward California, and continuing until astir Jan. 19, intensifying the hazard of flooding successful parts of the authorities this week. A flood ticker remains successful effect for the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and adjacent foothills until 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The archetypal of 5 atmospheric rivers arrived with a bang precocious Friday, arsenic dense rainfall and upland snowfall struck Northern California, spreading to Central California connected Saturday, with immoderate parts of the authorities expecting much than a ft of snowfall done aboriginal Sunday.

Forecasters expect the adjacent tempest that moved successful Sunday nighttime to beryllium much almighty than the past one. Aside from immoderate periodic breaks, overmuch of the week is expected to bring dense rainfall with much storms connected the horizon, said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service successful Sacramento.

Damaging winds with gusts betwixt 45 and 60 mph were expected Sunday nighttime until Monday greeting successful the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, Chandler-Cooley said.

“Make definite you person provisions connected manus successful lawsuit you person semipermanent powerfulness outages and a go-kit oregon evacuation kit if determination is flooding successful your area,” she said.

Two to 3 inches of rainfall are expected successful the portion and 2 to 8 inches successful the foothills adjacent Sacramento.

“Not lone are the winds strong, but the crushed is already saturated,” Chandler-Cooley said. “It’s truly casual for trees and powerfulness lines to fall.”

The tempest strategy implicit the play brought important upwind and rainfall and toppled trees each implicit the city, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said successful a statement.

The fig of trees that person been uprooted successful this tempest successful the City of Trees is successful the hundreds. Late Saturday night, winds howled done with a unit that near elephantine redwoods, oaks and eucalyptuses with their roots torn from the ground, their trunks blocking streets, crushing homes and downing powerfulness lines.

Saturday evening, a pistillate was killed erstwhile a histrion fell connected her tent. The Sacramento Fire Department said it responded to a telephone astir 6:45 p.m. for a traumatic wounded arsenic rainfall and unsafe winds began successful the capital. The section said the woman, who was unhoused, had not survived the injuries.

City officials said she was surviving on 1 of the galore wooded stream levees that person been the absorption of outreach efforts successful caller days, arsenic advocates and societal workers person attempted to pass radical of the unsafe storms approaching and connection options for shelter. Those levees routinely flood during ample storms.

“The information that a quality being mislaid her beingness successful past night’s tempest is heartbreaking,” Steinberg said. “Our outreach teams person been moving on the levee and elsewhere successful the metropolis to impulse radical to spell to 1 of our respite centers oregon astatine slightest get to precocious crushed distant from ample trees.”

Yana Garcia, the caput for the California Environmental Protection Agency, advised radical to debar floodwaters, which whitethorn beryllium untreated and incorporate harmful chemicals.

“Although this tempest has been dangerous, it volition assistance by providing California’s reserves with much water. But we can’t accidental yet that the drought is over,” Garcia said astatine a quality conference.

The Russian River successful Sonoma County astatine Guerneville was forecast to scope mean flood stage, and astatine Geyserville; Mark West Creek adjacent the assemblage of Mirabel Heights, Laguna de Santa Rosa astatine Stony Point Road westbound of Rohnert Park, and the San Lorenzo River northbound of Santa Cruz. An evacuation informing was successful spot on the Russian River downstream of Healdsburg to the coast.

In Mendocino County, the Navarro and Garcia rivers are already flooding highways. The Eel River adjacent Arcata successful Humboldt County is being intimately monitored. In the Central Valley, flooding is expected connected the Mokelumne and Tuolumne rivers. Bear Creek, which bisects Merced, could scope grounds flood levels, to 27.1 feet by Tuesday morning; the grounds is 24.65 feet successful 2006.

Officials successful Santa Cruz County are not lone watching waves batter coastal communities, but besides keeping an oculus connected saturated ungraded successful the mountains — which are becoming progressively susceptible to slides.

Then determination are the rain-swollen rivers. Typically, those rivers would unreserved downstream into the ocean. But fixed the size of the tempest surge, h2o is getting pushed backmost arsenic it tries to flight — flooding lowland areas on creeks and rivers, said Melodye Serino, a lawman region administrative officer.

She said residents are trying to prepare, but that’s hard to bash erstwhile it’s unclear wherever the menace is going to travel from: rain, tempest surge, flooding oregon each three.

Garrison and Chabria reported from Sacramento, Lin from San Francisco and Carcamo from Santa Ana. Times unit writers Matt Ormseth, Laura Newberry and Vanessa Arredondo contributed to this report.