Status: 01/15/2023 07:27 am
After new heavy rains, US President Biden declared a state of emergency for California. The US state has been hit by severe storms since Christmas, about 26 million people are affected by the floods.
The latest in a series of storms since Christmas swept through an already hard-hit region of California on Saturday, bringing heavy rain and causing flooding. Fields and roads were flooded in many places and power lines were damaged.
US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the state of California late Saturday night (local time) and directed federal funds to support people in the particularly affected counties of Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz.
About 26 million people affected
As of Saturday afternoon, about 20,000 homes were still without power, according to the poweroutage.us website. “We’re not done yet,” warned Gavin Newsom, governor of the US state, after visiting those affected. He warned to remain “vigilant”.
Nearly 26 million Californians continue to be affected by flood warnings, according to the national weather service NWS. Tens of thousands of people were asked to leave their homes.
In the mountains, the persistent precipitation originated large amounts of snow, with, according to the authorities, a risk of avalanches.
Lots of rain after years of drought
According to the US government, at least 19 people have died in floods, power outages, mudslides and landslides since Dec. 26 in drought-plagued California.
A new weather front with heavy rain, snow and squalls hit the coast on Saturday. In some regions, 50% of an entire year’s average rainfall was recorded in a few days.