A mammoth storm slammed over Southern California Saturday, ravaging freeways and roads, creating #Terrifying sinkholes and killing at least three people. The media went into frenzy-mode as the state faced its weather conditions in nearly ten years.
A woman had to be rescued from a ten-foot sinkhole by the fire department, as other cars were flipped over, #flooded and taken for rides in the torrential water.
Dubbed a #bombogenesis or weather bomb – #Cali's deadliest storm in years also brought with it torrential rain and floods, as well as power cuts that cut into nearly 200,000 homes.
Meanwhile dozens, if not hundreds, of houses were swiftly and dramatically evacuated, as authorities feared that mudslides could impact and bring further ruin to the already devastated area.
Flights cancelled, tress felled and roads in ruin
Around three to four hundred flights were disrupted or cancelled at LAX as major roads were shuttered and police called to rescue people from flooded cars, fallen trees and deadly power poles. Although people were advised to refrain from driving, many braved the wild weather in their cars, which often proved inadequate in the chaotic weather and torrential floods.
Police, rescue workers, firefighters and #paramedics across the state dealt with the fallout, including bursting creeks and muddy hills in danger of sliding in mountainous areas that had previously been effected by wildfires.
Then there were road collapses and hundreds of toppled trees in various areas of the State.
About 50 miles northwest of Sacramento, around 150-200 people were evacuated when a town called Maxwell succumbed to a #deluge of flooded creeks that turned the whole town brown. The local fire Chief claimed that around 100 family homes and the local school had been flooded with a few inches of cascading water.
Deaths and injuries reported across the State
A man in Sherman oaks was #killed when a tree buckled and fell, taking with it a power line that collapsed onto to his car. Another person died in Victorville when their car was lashed by a flash flood, whilst two people died in San Diego when their cars were involved in flood-related accidents.
Ryan Maue, a weather man, informed the Los Angeles Times that 10 trillion gallons of rain could possibly fall over the next seven days, comparing the rainfall to Niagra Falls. The National Weather Service predicts dry weather until late Sunday, and then more wet and wild conditions to follow. As flash-flood warnings for Southern California were withdrawn, #Northern California and San Francisco faced yet another few days of dire rain and heavy winds over the weekend as the storm drifted northwards.
People fear that the Oroville Dam could explode
Authorities have their attention on the #Oroville Dam that was near to overflowing on Sunday, causing a grave public threat and filling newsfeeds over the weekend.
Around 200000 individuals had been evacuated last Sunday after authorities alerted inhabitants that a backup spillway, meant only ever to be used in emergencies – and only ever used once before – was in danger of deteriorating. But as of Saturday, the Oroville water elevation fell to more than 4o feet.
Authorities were gravely concerned last weekend that torrential amounts of #floodwater could cascade onto low-lying towns, and they even claimed that in the worst possible instance, a three-story wall of water could be released.
Less than 200 miles from San Francisco, Lake Oroville is one of #California's hugest artificial lakes, with a 770-foot-tall dam making it the country's tallest.
