2 Dead, 25,000 Without Power as California Floods Continue

Approximately 10,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in California due to intensifying flooding.

The flooding has already claimed the lives of at least two people and stranded many others, CNN reports.

Strong winter storms are responsible for the catastrophes and have led the Meteorological Prediction Center to issue a Level 4 of 4 alert for excessive rains.

President Biden also approved a declaration of a state of emergency that will allow California to receive federal financial and other assistance in the recovery process.

25,000 residents are currently without electricity in the area, according to poweroutage.usand some 25 million are under flood watches issued by the National Weather Service.

The flooding comes as some mountainous regions of California are still trapped in snow from recent snowfalls. Now, it looks like rising rivers could cause more damage.

“Multiple rounds of rain, in addition to snow melt, will lead to the potential for significant increases along streams and rivers, with possible widespread flooding impacts through early next week,” said Nancy Ward, Bureau Director. from state Emergency Services, on a Friday. Press conference.

Flash flooding is expected to be a serious concern for many regions.

As of Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom had placed 34 of his state’s 58 counties under a state of emergency and opened more than a dozen shelters for those forced to leave their homes.

California’s department of transportation, CalTrans, has more than 4,000 crew members currently working around the clock to combat severe weather, moving downed trees and clearing drain pipes. The California National Guard has also deployed 36 High Water Vehicles to assist with the rescue effort.

In the town of Soquel, nearly 700 residents were trapped after a pipeline failure caused a road to collapse from water damage.

“This is the only road that leads into town,” said Soquel resident Molly Watson. “Now we are an island.”

The rain is expected to continue through Friday night as the storms will bring severe weather to other parts of the US as well.

Winter weather watches were in effect from South Dakota to Connecticut. Parts of Wisconsin received 6 to 8 inches of snow, which managed to knock out more than 100,000 residents according to PowerOutage.us.