Heavy rains in California – dam on river breaks

On March 11, 2023 in Mammoth Lakes, California. Current and previous storms have brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains.Foto: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Fear of flooding is forcing people in the US state of California to seek safety. Rescue workers are on duty.

Heavy rains continue to plague the US state of California. The flooding has washed away roads in parts of northern and central California. A dam along the Pajaro River in central California south of Santa Cruz broke on Saturday night, local authorities said.

Residents in the surrounding communities had previously been asked to leave their homes due to the threat of flooding. Rescue workers came to the aid of those who did not follow the appeals on Saturday.

In some other areas, too, people were asked to leave their homes and go to higher ground for safety reasons because of fears of flooding.

Vehicles and homes on Saturday March 11, 2023 in Pajaro, California. Residents had to be evacuated in the middle of the night after a tidal wave breached the Pajaro Dam and floodwaters poured into the community.Foto: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images

The eastern Sierra Nevada currently has 243 percent of the usual snow cover for this time of year. President Joe Biden has approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for a presidential emergency in response to recent storms in California.

An “atmospheric flow”

The west coast state of California is currently facing heavy rain and snowfall. At least two people have died in connection with the storms in the past few days, according to the local emergency services office.

Since January, the state on the west coast of the country, which has often been plagued by drought in the past, has been repeatedly hit by heavy rainfall. In the higher elevations of California, on the other hand, an unusual amount of snow has fallen in recent weeks.

The reason for the current heavy precipitation is a weather phenomenon called “atmospheric flow”. According to the German Weather Service, this means “a relatively narrow, directed band of moisture-saturated air” that can be up to 500 kilometers wide and 2,000 kilometers long. Such systems transported much of the water vapor outside the tropics. (dpa/red)