The death count from California rainstorms reached 20, and Biden is planning a visit
On Monday, the three-week-long march of atmospheric rivers that pounded California finally dissipated, allowing the state to start the lengthy repairs to streets and levees as the White House declared President Joe Biden planned to examine the damage.
As of Monday, the nine consecutive rainstorms that have overwhelmed California consecutively since Dec. 26 massacred around 20 people while tens of thousands stayed under evacuation orders, according to Governor Gavin Newsom stated in an executive order reinforcing the state’s response to storm damage.
Meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, David Roth, said, “The last of the heavier rain in California is slowly fading. After midnight it shouldn’t be heavy anymore.”
The White House said that on Thursday, Biden will tour areas of the central shore to meet first responders, visit impacted towns, and “assess what additional federal support is needed.”
On Jan.8, the president declared an emergency to free up federal assistance, and on Saturday, he approved disaster assistance for Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz counties.
The White House still hasn’t announced the areas Biden will visit.
the scenic coastal highway near Big Sur, Highway 1, was closed at several points because mudslides and falling boulders across the road were among the more dramatic images of storm damage.
While the storms were destructive, they also helped to ease a historic drought, as most of the state has already acquired half or more of its annual average rainfall.
But with over two months to get into the rainy season, officials recommend Californians continue to save water. The whole state is under moderate or severe drought situations, according to The U.S. Drought Monitor. Additionally, officials said reservoir levels were yet below standard for this time of year.
Moreover, the atmospheric rivers mostly failed to reach the Colorado River basin, a vital source of southern California’s water.
Michael Anderson, California’s state climatologist, told reporters, “If you rely on the Colorado River basin as a part of your water supply, then there will be continuing drought problems due to the extreme drought in that part of the world.”
According to Water-Data.com, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, Colorado’s two major reservoirs, were at 28.5% and 22.6% capacity, respectively, but were still below earlier year levels.
On Monday, Roth said the ninth consecutive atmospheric river fizzled out its remnants drenching the southernmost portion of the state, Arizona, and northern Mexico.
The storms are equivalent to rivers in the sky, carrying moisture from the Earth’s tropics to higher latitudes and dumping massive amounts of rain.
Another storm was reaching that could carry moderate rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. As a result, the U.S. National Weather Service said it lacked the magnitude to be categorized as an atmospheric river. In contrast, the state Department of Water Resources stated that it could temporarily qualify as one.
State officials said California could expect dry conditions for the remainder of January.
- Published By Team Nation Press News
