Death toll rises to six as deadly storm smashes into California
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A deadly storm in California has claimed the lives of six people as damaging weather continues to topple historic piers, triggering mudslides and closing roads.
Gary Yules, 72, Mei Keng Lam, 57, Katherine ‘Kathy’ Martinez, 61, Steven Sampson, 45, Aeon ‘Goldie’ Tocchini, 2, and a 19-year-old Solano County woman lost their lives from the bomb cyclone. crashed on the west coast.
The region has been hit by one deadly storm after another deadly since New Year’s Eve, causing high water levels, flash flooding, mudslides, destroyed docks and leaving thousands without power.
As of Friday night, 48,000 Californians were still without power as the state braced for another “atmospheric river,” expected to hit San Francisco later Friday.
Aeon ‘Goldie’ Tocchini, 2, (pictured) was one of six people who lost their lives in the deadly storms that have ravaged California since the New Year. She died after three redwoods fell on her family’s mobile home.
Katherine ‘Kathy’ Martinez, 61, of Orland, and Mei Keng Lam, 57, of San Leandro lost their lives, along with Gary Yules, 72, Steven Sampson, 45, and a 19-year-old Solano County woman.
Tocchini, a young boy, was killed after three redwood trees fell on his family’s mobile home Thursday.
When Volunteer Fire Chief Ronald Lunardi arrived on the scene, he said the boy’s father, Dan Tocchini, emerged with an unconscious Aeon.
‘A frantic father came out of the house carrying the child. He was like covered in rubble and said my son is not breathing,’ said the boss ABC News. “We’re in a rural area here, so my first thought was to put it in my truck and drive it to the main road because it’s on a long dirt road.”
As they made their way to the main road, Lunardi gave Dan CPR instructions until they met up with rescue teams, who took over. However, Aeon eventually succumbed to his injuries.
His father and mother Aisha and his brothers Eden and Danny were not injured.
His family remembers the blond boy as ‘Goldie’ because he ‘shined like the sun’, the GoFundMe read.
‘If you ever had the joy of meeting Goldie, you would know the light I speak of. His light still shines so brightly in our hearts, and she always will,” she said. ‘Goldie loved to dance, music moved her soul. He was kind, gentle and had the most loving spirit. He loved the outdoors like his mom and dad were his hero. His family adored him deeply and he instantly stole the hearts of those around him.
Martinez, 61, of Orland, California, was found dead in her submerged car on New Hope Road in Sacramento on Wednesday.
Her family found her car two days after she was reported missing.
A pier was destroyed at Seacliff State Beach (pictured) after Thursday’s deadly storm
Massive flooding of dilapidated homes in Soquel Creek in Capitola, California. This is the second major storm to hit the state since New Years
The bomb cyclone caused significant damage in Capitola (pictured) when part of the Capitola Warf collapsed
“It’s upsetting at this difficult time that we were doing all the legwork to find her,” her son said. K.C.R.A..
Hours later, Lam, 57, of San Leandro, California, was discovered in a field near Dillard Road around 10 p.m. in Sacramento.
Steven Sampson, 45, of McAlester, Okla., and Gary Yules, 72, were found early the week after the New Year’s Eve storm.
Sampson was found inside his submerged vehicle near Highway 99 on Sunday.
Yules was found a few days after his 72nd birthday after a cypress tree fell on him at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz on New Year’s Eve.
The upcoming storm will be the third storm to devastate the state since New Year’s Eve and will bring another round of strong gusts of wind and rain. It is likely to dump several more inches of rain on a region already saturated from repeated downpours since late December, renewing risks of flash flooding and mudslides, the NWS said.
Teams have rescued several people due to flooding and high water levels.
A business in Capitola was left in ruins after the storm. State braces for another ‘atmospheric river’ storm this weekend
The Zelda restaurants had a mountain of debris in their dining rooms after the ocean surge pushed it through the window and front wall.
In addition to heavy rain, up to two feet of snow is expected to fall over the weekend in the higher elevations of the Sierras, where accumulations of one foot to 18 inches or more were measured earlier this week, the service said. meteorological.
Much of northern two-thirds of California, the most populous state in the United States, was under flood watches, hurricane-force wind advisories and winter storm warnings on Friday as forecasters urged residents to prepare for the deluge and stay away. roads in flood prone areas.
The ominous forecast comes on the heels of a massive Pacific storm that unleashed hurricane-force wind gusts, high waves, torrential rain and heavy snowfall in California for two days. The northern part of the state was hardest hit.
Howling winds uprooted trees already weakened by prolonged drought and poorly anchored in rain-soaked soil, downing power lines and blocking roads across the region. Road travel was also disrupted by flash flooding and rock slides.
Rough waves and runoff from heavy rains combined to flood several blocks in the coastal city of Santa Cruz, and strong waves broke wooden piers in the adjacent city of Capitola and nearby Seacliff State Beach.
A man jumped out of his car after sliding through trees on Thursday. He did not suffer any injuries
A couple cleans up debris outside their home on Thursday. More than 40,000 Californians still without power
A man walks across a bridge at high tide in San Francisco. The city is expected to receive more rain today after a week of heavy rain
The Cal Fire San Mateo–Santa Cruz unit shared video of dangerously high surf splashing water on the highway where drivers were slowly traversing near El Granada on Thursday.
The Granada remained under a high wave advisory until 9 pm local time on Friday.
Farther north, strong waves broke through the back doors of the historic Point Cabrillo Lighthouse in Mendocino County, flooding its ground-floor museum, the Mendocino Voice newspaper reported.
The two-day storm, which ended Thursday night, was powered by a huge atmospheric current of moisture from the tropical Pacific and an expanding hurricane-scale low-pressure system known as a bomb cyclone.
Strong gust of wind damaged a gas station in San Francisco on Wednesday
It marked the third and strongest atmospheric river to hit California since early last week. Research predicts that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of such rainstorms, interrupting extended periods of extreme dryness.
The quick succession of storms left downtown San Francisco drenched in 10.3 inches of rain from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4, the wettest 10-day stretch on record there in more than 150 years, dating back to 1871, according to the NWS.
The highest all-time rainfall total ever documented over 10 days in the downtown area was 14.37 inches, an 1862 record that the NWS said would likely hold through coming downpours.