‘Relentless cyclones’ continue to batter California as death toll from killer storms rises to 18

The ‘relentless parade of cyclones’ battering California continued overnight and was expected to move further north, the US National Weather Service said today.

At least 19 people are known to have died in the recent series of storms that have battered the western United States, bringing levels of rainfall not seen in 150 years to some places, triggering massive flooding and mudslides.

The death toll rose after the body of a woman was found in her submerged car in Sonoma County a day after she made a desperate 911 call and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a man, 33, was found dead in the American River. Meanwhile, a five-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo was still missing Wednesday.

Communities have been washed away, power lines downed and roads blocked by rock slides as an endless deluge hits the Golden State. A swath of Northern California is still under a flood watch or winter weather advisory and last night all areas along the Salinas River in Monterey County were under evacuation orders.

This aerial view shows a flooded neighborhood in Merced, California, on January 10, 2023.

“The heaviest rains are expected to affect northwestern California over the next few days with a few inches of rain possible,” the NWS warned.

A later advisory said the weather system would also affect other Pacific Northwest states through early Saturday morning.

That rain will add to weeks of downpours that have left the land saturated, with rivers about to burst their banks and hillsides at risk of collapsing.

At least 19 people have now died in incidents across the state related to extreme weather, with the number rising after the body of a 43-year-old woman was found in a submerged car in Sonoma County.

The woman was identified as Daphne Fontino, who had made one last desperate call to 911 a day earlier when her car was trapped in floodwaters.

In the town of Aptos, near Santa Cruz, residents collected the remains of the flood.

“It’s probably the worst flood I’ve seen here since I’ve lived here, since 1984,” Doug Spinelli told AFP.

‘Aptos Creek was flowing so furiously I thought it was going to rip out our little walkway, and there were tree trunks being forced downstream, almost at a rate of about one every 30 seconds.

“It was amazing to see the amount of debris and wood that was flowing down the creek.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who visited the weather-battered Capitola on Tuesday, said the relentless storms meant even minor downpours could be problematic.

“The number of inches of rain and the intensity don’t tell the whole story,” he told reporters.

We’re soaked, this place is soaked. And now only more modest amounts of precipitation could add the same or greater impact in terms of conditions on the ground.”

More than 35,000 homes and businesses lost power in California early Thursday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us, and there have been tragedies across the state.

A five-year-old boy who went missing in floodwaters in San Luis Obispo was still missing Wednesday. Lindsay Doan was driving her son Kyle to school Monday morning when the family car was swept away by floodwaters.

Lindsay Doan was driving her five-year-old son Kyle (pictured) to school Monday morning when the family car was swept away by floodwaters. He has not yet been found by rescuers.

Pictured: A rescue team searches for 5-year-old Kyle Doan, who was washed away by floodwaters, in San Luis Obispo County, California, U.S., on January 11, 2023.

Pictured: A National Weather Service map showing how much rain fell between December 26 and January 10.

He managed to get out of the vehicle, but was unable to open Kyle’s door.

I was calm. He was trying to say, “Keep calm, Mom,” said the boy’s father, Brian Doan, according to the Los Angeles Times. ‘She was doing the best she could.’

When she finally got him out of the car, the current separated them.

Nearby residents pulled her out of the water, but Kyle had been swept away by the creek. “My wife feels really bad surviving this and he doesn’t,” Brian Doan said.

She did the right thing getting him out of the car. The San Miguel Fire Department told me they saw the car had moved and pushed it upside down in the creek.

However, he was unequivocal that his wife did nothing wrong.

“He made the best decisions he could,” Doan said. I have to keep insisting on that. She couldn’t stay in the car with him. The flows were going to master the car later… They came out. It was the right thing to do.’

After the search was called off again Wednesday due to poor visibility, Doan admitted he is prepared for the worst.

I’ve seen enough, you know? It’s tough,” Doan said.

You know what the odds are. And as much as people try to be optimistic, and I support my wife, it’s hard. The first night was very difficult, she just thought: ‘Oh my God, why couldn’t they have found it already?’

Kyle Doan is described as having dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, 4 feet tall and around 52 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black puffer jacket with red lining, blue jeans, and blue/grey Nike sneakers.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff said they were still looking for the boy, including with underwater teams. “We will search for him until we find him,” spokesman Tony Cipolla told The San Luis Obispo Tribune.

This aerial view shows a flooded neighborhood in Merced, California, on January 10, 2023.

In an aerial view, debris from the storm lies along the beach near a sand-covered parking lot on January 10, 2022 in Aptos, California.

According to a tally by the LA Times, the 18 confirmed deaths in the state include drivers found in submerged cars, people struck by falling trees, a husband and wife killed in a rockslide and people whose bodies were discovered on the rocks. floods.

Winter storms are not unusual in California, which tends to receive most of its annual rainfall in a fairly short period.

But the current systems, which have brought more rain to San Francisco in two weeks than at any time since 1866, are ruthless.

Scientists say global warming, which is being driven by human activity, is making weather events more extreme, with more violent storms and more severe droughts.

Despite the misery, the storms, which are expected to continue to batter California for another week, are bringing rain to a part of the country that badly needs it after more than two decades of drought.

But even the large volumes of water that are falling are not enough to replenish depleted reservoirs and aquifers.

Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir in the state, was still at just two-thirds of its historical average in early January, data from the department of water resources showed.