Inclement weather caused 17 deaths in California

Cars falling into holes in the roads. Floods that flooded cities. A little boy swept away by water…

All of this happened in California, which has been hit again, while another storm looms on the horizon.

Flood warnings have affected millions of people, nearly 50,000 have received evacuation orders, and more than 110,000 homes and businesses have been left without power due to heavy rain, lightning, hail and landslides.

At least 17 people died in the storms that began in late December, Governor Gavin Newsom said, visiting the picturesque Santa Cruz coastal town of Capitola, which was hit hard by heavy surf and flooding last week.

Among the fatalities were a pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist on whom a eucalyptus tree fell. The incident happened Tuesday on Highway 99 in the San Joaquin Valley near Visalia, California Highway Police said.

“We’ve had fewer deaths due to fires in California in the last two years than we’ve had since the beginning of the year because of this weather,” Newsome said. – These weather conditions are deadly.”

The new storm, which began Monday, dumped more than 45 centimeters of rain on mountainous areas of Southern California and buried Sierra Nevada ski resorts under more than a foot and a half of snow.

Rockfalls and landslides blocked roads, and rushing torrents turned stretches of highways into waterways. Overflowing rivers flooded homes, and residents of small communities were stranded.

Wind gusts of up to 141 kilometers per hour were seen in the mountains north of Los Angeles. At the same time, predicted tornadoes never materialized.

Because of the squalls and flooding, school classes were canceled in some areas and sections of major roads were temporarily closed.

On a Los Angeles street, two cars fell into a sinkhole. The drivers were able to be pulled out thanks to the arrival of a team of firefighters. Photos taken at the scene show a hole almost the width of the street with huge chunks of asphalt and a small car somewhere below.

Another failure damaged 15 homes in the town of Orcutt in Santa Barbara County.

In the wealthy coastal community of Montecito, 128 kilometers from Los Angeles, evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday, affecting about 10,000 people, including Prince Harry, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities.