Jan. 1 (UPI) — A New Year’s Eve storm that slammed California has killed at least two people and has left tens of thousands without power Sunday night, officials said.
The storm, caused by an atmospheric river of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, doused California with heavy rain and snow starting on Saturday, triggering flooding in Northern and Central California.
Officials said at least two people have died due to the storm — a driver found inside a vehicle submerged in floodwaters in Sacramento and a 72-year-old man killed by a fallen tree at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz.
The National Weather Service said that over the past week, high elevations of California, a state that has been battling an multiyear drought, received upwards of 14 inches of rain in the past week.
Its Sacramento branch has warned that along with urban flooding, multiple mainstem rivers are either flooding or could be by Monday, prompting the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services on Sunday evening to issue evacuation orders for Point Pleasant.
“Flooding in the area is imminent,” it said.
Chris Schamber of the Cosumnes Fire Department told local KCRA News that the flooding is “unprecedented” while calling on the public to remain at home despite the rain letting up.
“There’s been dozens of people that have been rescued from vehicles,” he said.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said it has also conducted multiple rescues including one with a technical hoist used to extract a victim in critical condition who had been washed away in flood waters on exiting their vehicle.
Schamber said his engine alone has rescued 15 people and that he estimates that “dozens upon dozens” of others have needed similar assistance.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said it has responded to fallen trees on homes and vehicles and disabled vehicles due to flood waters. Photos of a few of the instances posted to its Twitter account show homes smashed in by large trees that had been uprooted by the storm.
Dozens of roads have also been closed, including sections of Highway 99 due to flooding and Highway 50 due to several large boulders that were washed onto the roadway.
The NWS said the storm will move east across the Four Corners on Sunday night and then across the central Plains and the Upper Midwest, which will receive heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, on Monday and Tuesday.
According to poweroutage.com, more than 81,000 customers in California, the majority in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, were without power Sunday night, along with nearly 30,000 people in western Nevada.