According to collect News telecincoat least two people have died in california because of the serious consequences of storms that plague the western United States. Torrential and heavy rains snowfall have caused floods and landslides, and have left more than 8,000 people without electricity. And the storm is not over, as it is now threatening Arkansas and Texas with tornadoes.
The Christmas commutes have been complete chaos in many areas of California. Significant flooding has occurred in the County of Sacramento, where a person was found dead inside a submerged car, and a second victim in Santa Cruz because of the strong wind, which caused a tree to fall.
Rescues in California after severe flooding
More fortunate were the occupants of the car that we see in the images, who could have been miraculously rescued after falling off a cliff in Santa Cruz, on the California coast.
This afternoon, deputies responded to a solo vehicle over the side of Hwy 1 south of the Tom Lantos tunnel. Two adults suffered non-life threatening injuries and two children were unharmed. Tremendous collaborative effort btwn SMSO, @CHP_GoldenGate and @calfireSCU pic.twitter.com/sVyKp6LSrc
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) January 3, 2023
Evacuation orders have affected thousands of people, and on Monday, the advance of the storm affected more than 15 million people from the west coast to Illinois, under winter weather warnings, according to CNN.
“Cosumnes River and Mokelumne River flooding is expected to move southwest toward I-5 and could reach these areas in the middle of the night,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said. ).
Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana are in danger of storms severe, which could cause strong tornadoes and hail in the next few hours.
A winter storm will move from the Four Corners tonight across the central Plains and Upper Midwest Monday and Tuesday with areas of heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Further South, a strong cold front will bring the threat for thunderstorms with tornadoes and flooding. pic.twitter.com/8VBjQVIwxG
— National Weather Service (@NWS) January 2, 2023
More than a meter of snow in California
The extremely dangerous storm is due to an atmospheric river, a strip in the atmosphere that carries a lot of moisture thousands of kilometers from the tropical regions, which has been fueled by a parade of storms that, additionally, has transferred cold to the western United States, which has caused significant snowfall.
A thick layer of snow covers the mountains of California, with more than a meter thick in Sierra Nevada, as well as the Lake Tahoe setting. There are “dozens and dozens of vehicles stuck on the freeway and roads,” Nevada county authorities have reported.