Throughout the previous 10 days, harsh weather has killed 14 individuals and left more than 35,000 people without power in the state.
In the midst of severe storms that forced the evacuation of an entire community in California, a five-year-old kid was washed away by floodwaters.
On the fifth anniversary of a mudslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes in the coastal community of Montecito, the government issued an evacuation order that would have affected around 10,000 residents.
Numerous famous people, including Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, reside in the town.
To remind Montecito locals on “remain safe,” Ellen DeGeneres released a video to Instagram from a location not far from her house next to a raging river.
This is absurd, she remarked. We are experiencing unusually heavy rain. This brook, which is close to our home, is probably nine feet up and never flows.
“It might rise two more feet. We are prepared to evacuate with horses. Mother Nature is not pleased with us, so we need to be nicer to her.
After two persons were killed by fallen trees on Monday, state officials reported that the total number of fatalities from the unrelenting succession of storms had increased to 14.
Only the boy’s shoe was found during the approximately seven-hour search for him before authorities called it off because the water level was too risky for divers.
According to Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, the youngster has not yet been pronounced deceased.
Officials said that the mother of the boy was operating a truck when it became stuck in floodwaters close to Paso Robles, a tiny city inland from California’s central coast.
The boy was reportedly swept out of the truck and downstream, most likely into a river, while the mother was reportedly able to be removed from the vehicle by onlookers. At the time, there was no instruction for the region to evacuate.
Bill Brown, the sheriff for Santa Barbara County, stated that the decision to evacuate was “based on the ongoing high rate of rainfall with no sign that that is going to alter before midnight.”
According to Melodye Serino, the deputy county administrative officer, evacuation orders were also given to some 32,000 Santa Cruz County residents who live close to quickly rising rivers and creeks.
It happens while California is still being battered by a string of severe storms that have shut down schools, uprooted trees, and left thousands without electricity.
A video posted on social media showed a neighbourhood under water as muddy water surged up to a stop sign when the San Lorenzo River was reported to be at flood stage.
Roads in mountainous areas have been blocked by mudslides, and authorities are advising locals to stay inside.
Several districts in northern California closed their schools as a result of the storms.
According to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, more over 35,000 residents in Sacramento still don’t have access to electricity, down from more than 350,000 a day earlier after gusts of 60 mph smashed trees into power lines.
A “relentless parade of air rivers,” or lengthy plumes of moisture extending into the Pacific Ocean that are potential of dumping enormous amounts of rain, were warned of by the National Weather Service.
The Golden State was blasted by storms that only last week knocked out electricity to thousands of people, flooded streets, and devastated the coastline, and now rain and snow are predicted for the next few of days.
In order to aid in storm response and relief efforts in more than a dozen counties, including Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, President Joe Biden signed an emergency declaration on Monday for California.
During the previous 10 days, 12 people had perished as a result of the harsh weather, according to Governor Gavin Newsom, who also cautioned that this week’s storms could be even more hazardous.
With six to 12 inches of rain anticipated on Wednesday, the first of the newer, stronger storms prompted the meteorological service to issue a flood watch for a significant section of Northern and Central California.