Rain and floods in California – at least two dead More than 2,000 unidentified dead after Turkey earthquake

At least two people have been killed in a severe storm in the US state of California. The coroner’s office has confirmed that both deaths are linked to the extreme weather, which brings heavy rains and flooding, the chief of the local emergency services bureau, Nancy Ward, said Friday (local time).

According to information from the California government, a state of emergency is in effect in 34 of the state’s 58 counties. In some areas, people have been asked to evacuate their homes and move to higher ground for safety reasons, fearing flooding.

Flash flood warnings have been issued for large parts of Central California. In some higher elevations, up to 30 centimeters of rain is predicted in the coming days. “We will see more rain and heavy snowfall throughout much of northern and central California throughout the weekend,” said David Lawrence of the National Weather Service. The storm will last at least until the middle of next week. More flooding was expected.

“Never drive through barricades or roadblocks. Never drive through water you don’t know how deep it is,” Ward of the Bureau of Emergency Services warned. Anyone asked to leave an area should definitely do so. Nearly 10,000 people were ordered to evacuate on Friday.

Since January, the state on the western coast of the country, which has historically been plagued by drought and drought, has been hit repeatedly by unusually heavy rainfall. Rising temperatures could lead to more snowmelt. An unusual amount of snow has fallen in the higher elevations of California 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, directional band of moisture-saturated air” that can be up to 500 kilometers wide and 2000 kilometers long. Such systems transported much of the water vapor outside the tropics.

According to the US climate agency NOAA, about as much water can be transported as flows through the mouth of the Mississippi River. Because the moist air masses that hit California often originate from the tropical marine areas in the Pacific region around Hawaii, they are sometimes referred to as the “Pineapple Express,” it was said. (saw/sda/dpa)