Heavy rains, strong winds, power outages, and evacuations were necessary in California on Thursday (6), when the second major storm of the week hit parts of the state and was responsible for at least two deaths.
The storm caused significant damage across Santa Cruz County, south of San Francisco. Docks in popular coastal towns, including Capitola and Seacliff, were heavily damaged.
San Francisco recorded its rainiest ten-day period since 1871, with 10.33 inches of rain falling between December 26 and January 4, according to the National Weather Service.
The biggest problems were caused by the strong winds that accompanied the storm, which knocked down trees and power poles. By Thursday night, more than 73,000 homes and businesses were without power – a decrease from over 180,000 people who were in the dark on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.
The two deaths associated with the rains occurred, one in Fairfield, northeast of San Francisco, where a woman died in a car accident on a flooded road, and the other in Sonoma County, where a child was killed when a tree fell on a family’s home.
The climatic turmoil occurred days after torrential rain on New Year’s Eve forced evacuations in rural communities in Northern California and the rescue of drivers from flooded roads.
Sacramento County authorities found a body in a submerged car – one of four victims of the flooding from that first storm.
Weather Service Warns of Another Week of Storms
The heavy rains along the West Coast are likely to continue for another week, the weather service warned.
The new storms will begin to hit the California coast on Friday night. Although they are expected to be less intense than the storm on Wednesday and New Year’s Eve, they will still bring plenty of water to the already saturated ground and may cause further interruptions in electric service.