Robert Besser
27 Mar 2023, 07:35 GMT+10
SAN FRANCISCO, California: A new round of extreme winter weather that hit California, also drifted into neighboring Southwest states, with authorities reporting five storm-related deaths in and around the San Francisco area due to falling trees.
Diana Crofts-Pelayo, spokesperson for the California Office of Emergency Services, said that due to the possibility of rain-swollen streams overflowing their banks or storm-weakened levees failing, some 48,000 people around the state have been warned to be prepared to flee to higher ground.
Most mandatory evacuation orders, which cover some 12,000 people, were in Tulare County in the San Joaquin Valley, where high water from recent levee failures has flooded many communities.
The storm was the twelfth in a recent succession of "atmospheric rivers," which have swept the West Coast since late December.
According to officials and local media reports, five people were killed this week by trees that fell due to high winds across California's Bay area, with two being in San Francisco and one each in Oakland, Contra Costa County and San Mateo County.
Two of the victims were reported to have died in their vehicles, and one was crushed inside a tent.
This winter, more than 20 other storm-related fatalities have been recorded across California during repeated episodes of violent weather.
The current wet winter has created an abrupt reversal of fortune for California, which has suffered for the past few years from drought and wildfires.
Get a daily dose of Los Angeles Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Los Angeles Herald.
More InformationLOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Two horses that succumbed to their injuries at Churchill Downs have become the 11th and 12th fatalities over ...
FREMONT, California: Brain implant company Neuralink announced that it has received approval from US regulators to begin human brain implant ...
JEFFERSONVILLE, Indiana: Randy Lankford, owner of Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, has pleaded guilty to more ...
DENVER, COLORADO: A federal judge has ruled that a rural Colorado school district can ban a high school student from ...
ZURICH, Switzerland: In one of the largest legal awards ever against Credit Suisse, the bank was ordered to pay $926 ...
DETROIT, Michigan: Amid broader global concerns over semiconductor chip supplies, sanctions and national security, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said ...
DENVER, COLORADO: A federal judge has ruled that a rural Colorado school district can ban a high school student from ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has said the company could consider leaving Europe if it could ...
MENLO Park, California: As part of the last stage of a three-series round of staff layoffs, part of a plan ...
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the assault over Memorial Day weekend near a California beachPolice have arrested ...
washington - Scientists have expanded the search for technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations by monitoring a star-dense region toward the core ...
Shohei Ohtani blasted a pair of two-run home runs and Mike Trout and Taylor Ward hit one each to lift ...