California: Storm causes evacuations of entire counties

Several dead
California is evacuating entire counties due to flooding – including US celebrities



Watch the video: California evacuates entire counties after storms.

The storms in California continue. Heavy rains have caused flooding and landslides. More than a dozen counties have been affected, including Sacramento, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles. Authorities ordered a full evacuation of the city of Montecito, north of LA and home to many celebrities. TV star Ellen DeGeneres also spoke up from there on Monday: “We have to be nicer to Mother Nature. She’s not happy with us. We have to do our part. Take care, people.” The storms have also led to road closures, among other things due to flooding or downed trees. According to the authorities, tens of thousands of people were cut off from the power supply, and some schools canceled classes.

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Persistent rain causes flooding in the US state of California. More than a dozen counties are now being evacuated. The affected TV presenter Ellen DeGeneres reports with an appeal to speak.

At least twelve people have died in the US state of California as a result of heavy rainfall that has lasted for days. On Monday (local time), residents of the small town of Montecito, popular with celebrities, were asked to leave their homes because of the threat of mudslides. Among others, the British Prince Harry and his wife Meghan live in Montecito. The US weather service NWS expects “additional heavy rainfall” in the coming days, which could lead to flooding and landslides.

According to the NWS, up to 130 millimeters of rain should fall in the coastal regions of central California over the course of Monday alone. Further precipitation was also expected there and in the south of the state for Tuesday, in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada fresh snow and snow depths of up to 1.80 meters were expected. As of Monday, more than 100,000 California homes were without power. At the request of Governor Gavin Newsom, the US government in Washington declared California a state of emergency.

Popular place of residence of US celebrities affected

In the town of Montecito, which is popular with US celebrities, 200 millimeters of rain should fall within 24 hours – on hilly terrain that has already been softened by weeks of downpours. The authorities called on the residents of the city – in which Prince Harry, US stars such as talk show legend Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston live – on a state website to leave Montecito “immediately” due to the “rapidly developing” situation . Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres posted a video of a torrent on Twitter. “This is crazy,” she told her followers. “That creek next to our house never flows. It’s probably about a meter high now and will rise another half meter.” It was initially unclear how many of the city’s residents, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Katy Perry, followed the authorities’ call for evacuation.

Forest fires encourage landslides

Montecito is particularly vulnerable to landslides due to extensive vegetation fires in 2017 and 2018. Heavy rainfall is actually not uncommon in the California winter. However, California has been suffering from a persistent drought for more than two decades, which has favored extensive forest and bush fires, among other things. Where vegetation has been destroyed by fire, heavy rainfall can hardly seep into the ground – which in turn encourages landslides. Moreover, the precipitation is by no means a real remedy for the drought in California: According to scientists, several years of above-average precipitation would be necessary to bring California’s water reserves back to a satisfactory level.

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AFP
Reuters

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