SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Hundreds of thousands of Californians were without electricity and at least two were killed Sunday during a stretch of storms that are expected to further drench the state this week.
At about 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 420,000 people were without electricity, Nancy Ward, California’s director of emergency services, said at a news conference. About 2,900 people had been evacuated.
The bulk of the outages were reported in Sacramento County, where winds toppled trees and power lines and where Sacramento International Airport clocked a gust of 70 mph.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would request a federal emergency declaration in hope of receiving FEMA assistance for that spate of storms that have killed 12 people in 10 days. That’s more than the number of civilians killed by wildfires in the past two years, he said at Sunday’s news conference.
FEMA did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment Sunday afternoon.
Sacramento County spokesperson Samantha Mott said Sunday that authorities were “still collecting a damage assessment” and that she expected more power outages during the coming storms that may be “as severe, if not worse” than the one that killed at least two people this weekend.
Mott told The Washington Post that she could not answer questions about how many people had died, but at least one person was killed and one was seriously injured by falling trees Saturday night, according to Capt. Keith Wade of the Sacramento Fire Department.
The woman who died had been staying in a tent just off where a levee system meets the American River. Members of the large unhoused community that camps along the levee system moved the tree off her tent before firefighters arrived, Wade said. She was declared dead at a hospital.
Wade said a fallen tree also landed on a car, seriously injuring a passenger.
“I’ve never seen in 22 years here this amount of tree debris,” he said.
The combination of roots made shallow by years of drought and soil saturated by recent heavy rain makes it easier for trees to topple, Wade said. His department has not been able to keep up with demand, and things will get worse before they improve.
Wade said the department’s 16-member swift-water rescue team is preparing for wind gusts up to 40 mph and 2 to 3 more inches of rain into mid-Monday.
Emergency services have been inundated with calls, but the city’s system for fire and police response went down about 2 a.m. Sunday, leaving firefighters to hand-write the addresses dispatchers give them.
In Santa Cruz, south of San Francisco, a fallen tree also killed a 72-year-old man, according to Mayor Fred Keeley (D).
Santa Cruz workers are in emergency mode and prepared for water rescues, Keeley said, but he said he worries about keeping infrastructure operational, including the storm sewer, drains and gutters. He said Santa Cruz is prepared to use a National Guard armory to shelter up to 500 people who are experiencing homelessness and to provide tents for those who prefer to live outside.
Dozens of people on Sunday afternoon walked the Santa Cruz beach amid piles of driftwood and debris washed in by a previous storm. Although the beach was closed, walkers played fetch with their dogs, and children built shelters out of driftwood and seaweed.
The sea was brown and frothy, with waves crashing ashore. Rain was hours away, but gray clouds covered the seaside town.
A pack of surfers was taking advantage of a sandbar built up by the heavy flow of water out of the San Lorenzo River that was kicking up a bigger break than usual.
This wasn’t a regular spot, but the storm conditions were making it ideal, said Zach Edwards, 48, a surfer who has lived in Santa Cruz for 30 years.
He said he wasn’t too worried about damage to his home and was enjoying the surfing. The last time he saw the town get this much rain was in 1997, Edwards said.
“The river got really good, that was the biggest sandbar I’ve seen. This year it got bigger,” he said. “And there’s more to come, so it’s great.”
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D) was more apprehensive Sunday afternoon.
He said his city has “cleared hundreds of trees and thousands of storm drains” in preparation for the storms.
“Today we are gearing up for the next wave of storms and urging all of those still outdoors to please go to a respite center or at least get to higher ground away from trees and bodies of water.”
The city has offered beds and respite centers since this past Wednesday, and it plans to continue through Thursday morning.
The Sacramento and bay areas were in a brief calm Sunday afternoon. But more rain was expected, and authorities were urging people to stay home Monday if possible because another atmospheric river was forecast. Yet another may come Thursday.
Newsom said the storm track for the sixth atmospheric river expected in this series is shifting south, toward San Jose and Modesto, presenting more challenges for urban areas than the Central Valley and Northern California locations that the state had projected late last week.
Like its predecessors, the coming storm is an intense atmospheric river, or strip of deep tropical moisture. It is expected to flood lowland areas in the region, rile surf at the beaches, and bring heavy snow and winds over 100 mph near mountaintops.
Michael Anderson, state climatologist for California’s Department of Water Resources, said during a Saturday briefing that the string of storms began Dec. 27 and is expected to continue until Jan. 19. The storm anticipated Monday and Tuesday is the second of five, he said, “and also the one that has our largest concerns right now.”
Forecast models do not agree on the strength and location of the third, fourth and fifth storms, Anderson said. “But,” he added, “we have an indication something’s out there.”
Authorities urged people to follow local forecasts, avoid driving across flooded roadways, and have an emergency evacuation kit and plan for this week’s storms.
In California’s Central Valley and near the coast, 2 to 4 inches of rain is likely, while up to 9 inches could fall in the foothills through Wednesday. Flood watches and warnings were activated in most of Central and Northern California, along with wind advisories predicting gusts 40 to 50 mph.
The state has been inundated with rain in recent weeks. An atmospheric river soaked Northern and Central California on New Year’s Eve, knocking out power and stranding some people in flooded cars.
In 13 days, San Francisco has picked up 11.16 inches, the wettest stretch the city has recorded since 1871. On Dec. 31, 5.46 inches of rain fell, the second-wettest calendar day on record since bookkeeping began in 1849.
“All main stem rivers are forecast to be near or above flood stage by Monday afternoon/evening,” the National Weather Service Bay Area office wrote. A few rivers could reach record levels.
The Weather Service’s national center responsible for precipitation forecasts wrote that some areas could see amounts that occur once every five to 10 years on average. A large area of Central and Northern California has a 40 to 70 percent chance of flash flooding within 25 miles of any given location.
The Sierra Nevada can expect 3 to 6 feet of snow above 6,000-foot elevations Monday into Tuesday. Winds of 80 mph are likely too, and gusts of 100 to 130 mph can’t be ruled out on the Sierra ridgeline.
Below 7,000 feet, the precipitation will start as snow and flip to rain, causing the snowpack to become water-loaded, which will increase avalanche risk. In softer precipitation Monday night, temperatures will cool, and the elevation at which it is below freezing will descend as another batch of precipitation arrives into Tuesday morning.
“Widespread avalanche activity in the mountains” is expected, according to the National Weather Service in Reno, Nev. “Large destructive avalanches could occur in a variety of areas.”
Weather models are indicating the potential for a few lightning strikes Monday night, which could lead to thundersnow, posing a danger to skiers and enhancing snowfall rates. Accumulations of more than 5 inches per hour can’t be ruled out during the peak of the storm.
Anderson, the climatologist, said the rain that has fallen over California in the previous week makes for “some pretty astounding numbers.”
“What may be more impressive are the next six days coming,” he said. “You look at those numbers — just as large as what we’ve been through, and this unrelenting pace of storms, and some really large numbers.”
Brasch reported from Richmond; Cappucci from Soda Springs, Calif.; and Malhi, Parker and Shammas from Washington.
