California flooding: More storms forecast for weekend as experts warn heavy rain won’t fix drought

Death toll likely to rise in California as deluge and flash floods set to continue

Drone video of flooded Felton in Santa Cruz County

California is bracing for more extreme weather this weekend, when two more storms barrel into the state on Friday and over the weekend.

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain and flooding in the northern parts of the state on Saturday and into early Sunday morning, urging residents late on Thursday to “stay weather aware and prepare now”.

Since the start of the year, California has been hammered by a succession of storms with northwestern and central California already soaked by between 10 and 20 inches in the last two weeks alone.

While the heavy rain has started to raise reservoir levels, experts say it will take far more to reverse the effects of years of drought.

At least 18 people have now died in incidents linked to the extreme weather with the body of a 43-year-old woman discovered in a submerged vehicle in Sonoma County on Wednesday.

Near the city of Paso Robles, five-year-old Kyle Doan, swept away in the floodwaters when he and his mother Lindsey Doan got stuck in their car, is still missing.

Kyle’s father said that his wife unbuckled their son and the pair climbed out of the sinking car when it got stuck.

“He was calm. He was trying to say, ‘Stay calm, Mom,” he said. “She was doing her best.”

Key Points

• Drenching California storms put dent in drought
• New storm map shows more heavy rainfall for California
• Death toll climbs to 18 as woman’s body found in submerged car
• Parents describe horror of losing missing 5-year-old child Kyle Doan
• California suffers 955 mudslides and flash floods in two weeks as relentless storms continue

[11 January 2023 00:45 · Josh Marcus]

Damage from California storms will cause ‘several billions’ of dollars

Recent storms have brought extreme weather to nearly every part of California, including rain, snow, hail, thunder, and storm surges, resulting in floods, downed power lines, and landslides.

All that damage could add up.

“It’s likely that this is going to be at least several billion dollars,” Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, told the New York Times on Tuesday. “It will unfortunately join the club of billion-dollar disasters.”

Here’s our report from Louise Boyle on the worst climate disasters of 2022. Read on to see where the latest storms in California stack up.

[11 January 2023 01:00 · Josh Marcus]

Small California town hasn’t had full power in nearly a week

Gualala, a scenic coastal town north of the San Francisco Bay Area, hasn’t had full power for nearly a week, as intense storms battered the region and downed numerous trees and power poles.

As of Tuesday afternoon, about half of the town’s 2,000 people were still without electricity, though utility provider PG&E said power would be restored by 10pm local time this evening, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.

[11 January 2023 01:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Frequency and intensity of storms symptom of climate change

Experts say the growing frequency and intensity of such storms, interspersed with extreme heat and dry spells, are symptoms of climate change. Though the rain and snow will help replenish reservoirs and aquifers, a mere two weeks of precipitation will not solve two decades of drought. Meanwhile, terrain denuded by past wildfires has created an increased risk of flash floods and mudslides.

The torrential rains, along with heavy snow in mountain areas, follow yet another "atmospheric river" of dense moisture funneled into California from the tropical Pacific, powered by sprawling low-pressure systems churning offshore.

Reuters

[11 January 2023 01:30 · Josh Marcus]

Over 22 million in California face flood advisory

With heavy rains come strong floods.

Some 22 million people across California and parts of Oregon are under flood advisory, as the atmospheric river looks set to keep dumping heavy precipitation across the region.

“We’ve seen tons of reports of mudslides, rocks and boulders coming down on the roads,” Mike Doll, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather, told TIME on Tuesday.

[11 January 2023 01:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: CHP capture huge landslide in Fresno Counthy

[11 January 2023 02:00 · Josh Marcus]

Will epic California storms be enough to end state’s drought?

An “atmospheric river” is drenching California with storms, bringing exceptionally high levels of precipitation across the golden state.

Thanks to a series of storms beginning in late December, areas of California have received 400 to 600 per cent of their normal rain levels, according to the National Weather Service. By early January, state scientists at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains were recording snows that were 177 per cent higher than average.

The intense weather has often proved catastrophic on the ground, causing flooding, downed trees, and mudslides that have killed at least 16 people and left roughly 224,000 people in the state without power, the Washington Post reports.

Despite all the destruction it has caused, will the atmospheric river end California’s historic drought, the worst in state history? Not quite, according to scientists.

Read our full report to understand why.

[11 January 2023 03:00 · Josh Marcus]

San Francisco man goes viral for spraying unhoused person with house during storm

San Francisco may be facing strong rains, but that didn’t stop one business owner in the city’s Financial District from spraying an unhoused perrson with a hose on Monday.

In a clip that later went viral locally, the man can be seen saying, “Move,” as he blasts the individual, who sits on the sidewalk wrapped in blankets.

As the San Francisco Standard reports, the city is short thousands of shelter beds needed to house those on its streets as strong rains pelt the Bay Area.

[11 January 2023 04:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

On Monday, officials ordered the evacuation of some 25,000 people, including the entire affluent enclave of Montecito near Santa Barbara, due to heightened flood and mudslide risks. The 4,000 people of Planada, a community in Central California, started their Tuesday morning with an order to evacuate their homes by the county sheriff’s office.

The Montecito evacuation zone was among 17 California regions where authorities worry the ongoing torrential downpours could unleash lethal cascades of mud, boulders and other debris in the hillsides.

To the southeast in Ventura County, crews worked overnight to rescue drivers stuck in a three feet of mud flow along State Highway 126, the California Highway Patrol said.

Reuters

[11 January 2023 05:15 · Josh Marcus]

Damage centred on Santa Barbara

With the soil already saturated, much of the damage has been concentrated around the city of Santa Barbara, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles, where the steep foothills slope toward the Pacific Ocean.

Several remote spots have reported more than a foot (30 cm) of rain including the San Marcos Pass in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara, where more than 17 inches (43 cm) have fallen, according to the NWS.

In the Rancho Oso area of the Santa Ynez Mountains, mud and debris across the roadway isolated about 400 people and 70 horses, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said on Twitter, posting a photo of a vehicle stuck in the mud. Rescue teams were on the way, spokesperson Scott Safechuck said.

Near the coast, the California Highway Patrol closed U.S. 101, the main highway connecting northern and southern California, with no estimated time on reopening.

Reuters

[11 January 2023 06:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

The worst climate disasters of 2022

Wildfires tearing through the London suburbs. One-third of Pakistan underwater. Drought-linked famine looming for tens of millions of people in East Africa. Billions of dollars in damage from a “500-year” hurricane that smacked into Florida.

The year 2022 brought disaster after disaster across the planet with scientists increasingly able to point to the climate crisis as the root cause.

Here, The Independent looks back at some of the most erratic and devastating events being driven by humanity’s continued reliance on burning fossil fuels: