At least 16 people have been confirmed dead by flooding caused by the storm raging in California.
“These floods are deadly and have now turned to be more deadly than even the wildfires here in the state of California,” Governor Gavin Newsom was quoted as saying during a news conference over the weekend.
Responding to the incidence, Adam Smith, an applied climatologist and disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that while it is too early to know exactly how much the damage from these storms will cost California, it could reach or exceed $1bn.
Recall that last year, the US experienced 18 weather and climate disasters costing at least $1bn, putting 2022 in a three-way tie with 2017 and 2011 for the third-highest number of billion-dollar disasters in a year, according to a report published by the agency.
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Early Tuesday, the Merced County sheriff issued a mandatory evacuation order for the town of Planada just east of Merced, affecting 4,000 residents after Bear Creek began to flood amid heavy rain. A day earlier, Merced city officials had issued evacuation orders and warnings along a number of residential neighbourhoods along Bear Creek, which runs through the heart of the city.
Merced is bisected by Bear Creek, a tributary for the Mokelumne River that starts in the Sierra Nevada. Bear Creek’s water levels reached the major flood stage early Tuesday, sending muddy water into neighbourhoods and stranding motorists.
According to reports, about 189,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers remain without power Tuesday. Efforts to restore power overnight were stymied by wind gusts exceeding 70 mph in some areas and more than 100 lightning strikes, according to the utility.
While the Felton area of Santa Cruz County, portions of which were flooded Monday from the rising San Lorenzo River, suffered major damage overnight from powerful winds gusting up to 70 mph that toppled trees, highway 17 was closed after power lines went down and were sparking on the roadway, according to the National Weather Service.
Story was adapted from Punch.
