Landslides are a guarantee tragedy after sustained drought. That is not a flood, it is a torrent.
By Dani Auguiano and Gabrielle Canon
The Los Angeles River flows at a powerful rate as a huge storm brings flooding and landslides to the west coast.
As more dangerous storms bear down on California, (click here) the state is only just beginning to grapple with the destruction and death left by weeks of extreme weather that wreaked havoc in nearly every region from the northern coast to Los Angeles.
The series of storms that have pummeled California since late December have killed at least 19 people, brought hurricane force winds that toppled trees and power lines, cutting energy to thousands, and flooded roads and rivers, covering swaths of land in dense mud and debris that stretches for miles. Entire communities have been forced to evacuate while road closures and power disruptions left some rural regions isolated and almost cut off from the outside world.
Authorities are still documenting the toll of the disaster, an effort that’s been hampered by a fresh onslaught of more storms. Joe Biden has approved emergency declarations from 41 of California’s 58 counties.
“These storms are among the most deadly natural disasters in the modern history of our state,” Nancy Ward, the director of the governor’s office of emergency services said at a briefing on Friday.
After a grueling drought and California’s driest years on record, the latest turn of extreme weather, which some experts have called hydrological “whiplash”, has highlighted the challenges that come with such a rapid deluge, particularly in a state more accustomed in recent years to disasters related to heat and wildfire....
This has been a sustaining pattern for some time now. Severe storms in California while at the same time the south is receiving a lashing from tornadoes with people dying. That is not a normal pattern of weather, especially for winter months.
January 14, 2023
Montgomery - The National Weather Service has confirmed (click here) that the deadly tornado that swept across Autauga County on Jan. 12 was of EF3 strength, having peak winds of 150 mph. NWS says the tornado was on the ground for 76 miles and was more than three-quarters of a mile wide at its peak as it tore through parts of Autauga, Elmore, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties before lifting.
Storm surveys are ongoing. Hundreds of homes in the areas of Old Kingston, Posey’s Crossroads, White City, and Marbury have been damaged or destroyed from this tornado.
The tornado claimed the lives of seven people. The Autauga County Sheriff’s Office shared the victims’ names on Saturday and said their deaths happened in Old Kingston, one of the hardest hit communities of the county.
Four of the victims were related, though the sheriff’s office did not provide details on how....
