SAN FRANCISCO – There’s unrest in the West as a powerful and deadly bomb cyclone pounds California with heavy rain and high winds.
The historical storm currently spanning much of the state is just one of a series of storms that will impact the West Coast in the coming days.
SEE SOME OF THE MOST CATASTROPHIC ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS AND FLOODING IN CALIFORNIA HISTORY
The Golden State was already hit hard by flooding earlier in the week, and the latest storm is doing no favors as residents try to recover.
The double whammy of an atmospheric river, nicknamed a Pineapple Express, and bomb cyclone has been blamed for at least two deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to firefighters, a child was killed Wednesday inside a home hit by a falling redwood tree in the rural Sonoma County town of Occidental.
In Fairfield, about 65 miles to the east, a 19-year-old woman was killed when her car hydroplaned on a partially flooded road and slammed into a utility pole, according to police.
High winds even toppled a San Francisco gas station roof Wednesday evening, snapping fuel pumps as it came crashing down. No injuries were reported.
As residents shelter under a state of emergency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said his storm response offices are at their highest emergency level. Mandatory evacuations have also been ordered for several neighborhoods with a high risk of flooding.
“California just hasn’t been used to this for probably the last 20 to 30 years,” said Capt. Keith Wade, of the Sacramento Fire Department.
As of Thursday morning, more than 180,000 customers in California were without power. Most of them have been reported in Northern and Central California.
“This weather system by itself would present widespread challenges, and we have to factor in that many parts of our service area remain saturated after last weekend’s storm,” said Angie Gibson, vice president of PG&E’s emergency preparedness division. “We encourage customers to prepare for the storm now – have an emergency plan in case you lose power.”
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Over half of the state of California is under a Flood Watch. There have been several reports of roads being closed because of high water and landslides that have blocked highways.
More than 5 inches of rain has been reported in the past three days in Woodland, and more than 4 inches has fallen in Oakland and surrounding communities. Farther inland, rainfall totals in the mountains and their foothills could approach 8 to 12 inches in some spots.
Since atmospheric rivers have been dropping near-record amounts of rain across California since before the Christmas holiday, the additional water will have nowhere to go. As a result, numerous reports of flooding and mudslides are likely.
Aside from heavily saturated ground and wind gusts reported at Category 4 strength in one community.
The dangerous and terrible trio of rain, wind and surf is jeopardizing California’s famous but vulnerable coastal communities. Elevated surf up to at least 15 feet is forecast for Thursday and Friday for the central coast, with tides up to 6 feet through Sunday.
This latest storm will eventually push through by late Thursday or early Friday, but there is scant hope for drier weather in California anytime soon.
Another atmospheric river will blast the state this weekend before another powerful one arrives next Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Each new storm will bring a renewed round of dangerous flooding. Over the next week, as much as 20 inches of rain may fall in the northern parts of the state.