Many homes and vehicles were submerged in California after the Pajaro River flooded and breached a dam.
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 3/13/2023 at 10:23 PM, updated 3/13/2023 at 10:23 PM
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A dam broke in California, causing major flooding. DRONE BASE / Portal
California is battling two storms Monday: A levee that collapsed due to major flooding and evacuating thousands of people is being repaired, but a new storm is being announced in this Western American state. After the flooding of the Pajaro river, which caused a dike breach overnight from Friday to Saturday, houses were flooded and vehicles were submerged. Firefighters then went door to door to wake residents and evacuate.
“Giant Atmospheric Flow”
But the gap had widened further to a width of 100 meters as of Monday morning, according to officials in Monterey County south of San Francisco. “Emergency repair work is underway to stabilize it,” according to the county, which has not yet recorded any deaths or injuries in the area. More than 10,000 people across the county have been ordered to evacuate their homes and the Salinas River is expected to overflow in the coming days. California, the country’s most populous state, is experiencing a particularly rainy winter. In January in particular, a series of storms caused multiple floods, landslides and downed trees, killing 20 people.
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After the Pajaro River flooded, houses were flooded and vehicles were submerged. DRONE BASE / Portal
The current storm, like most others this season, is being fed by an “atmospheric flow,” a gigantic rain corridor that carries water vapor stored in the tropics, often around Hawaii. If the rains have gradually decreased in intensity, they could fall on the region again Monday evening and Tuesday, with almost 5 centimeters expected on already saturated soils, and therefore cause new flooding. According to Brooke Bingaman of the US National Weather Service (NWS) in the region, the risks of further flooding are very real. “It is very important that you leave the areas that should be affected,” she urged in a video posted to Twitter.
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“Remember, it’s better to spend the night in a strange place than waking up at home to the rising water or realizing you’re isolated because the roads are cut off around you,” she insisted. Record-breaking snowfalls have also been recorded in the surrounding mountains in recent months, leading to an enormous accumulation of snow. The new rains, coming from a fairly warm depression, could melt some of this exceptional snowpack that has accumulated over the past three months. What causes runoff that waterways may not be able to contain?