Sixteen people died in the US state of California due to torrential rains that continued to fall on Tuesday, and the authorities ordered the evacuation of many regions, including the city of Montecito, where the residence of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is located.
Much of the state of California is being battered by a severe winter storm in which torrential rains have already caused flooding, road closures, downed trees and power outages in tens of thousands of homes.
In a statement, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says successive storms are battering the state of California and have already killed 16 people, “more than the wildfires of the past two years.”
“Several days of bad winter weather are still expected,” stressed the governor, who asked citizens to be “hypervigilant.”
In Paso Robles, a small town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a 5-year-old boy was washed away Monday and is still missing, according to a sheriff’s statement.
The search for the boy, who disappeared when the car he was traveling with his mother got stuck in the water, had to be called off due to bad weather.
In Bakersfield, in the center of the state, two drivers died after a tree fell on the highway, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some 150,000 homes were left without electricity tonight.
According to the meteorological services (NWS), after an improvement in the weather situation tonight, a new storm should hit California on Wednesday with rain forecasts of up to 18 centimeters.
The NWS reports that California is currently experiencing “a relentless onslaught of atmospheric rivers,” the likes of which has not occurred since 2005, causing staggering amounts of rain and snow.
The authorities ordered the evacuation of Montecito, a coastal town north of Los Angeles and where several celebrities have luxury mansions, such as actress Jennifer Aniston and television presenter Oprah Winfrey.
Source: TSF
