The flooding in California continues. In December 2022, it killed two and left many injured. The state had its first flooding in 1770 on the Los Angeles River. The cause of the flooding is the unrelenting extreme weather. Due to the weather, California rivers and lakes have been rising and reaching the flood stage. The largest flood records were from 1861-1882  in Oregon, Nevada, and California.

In California, there have now been 17 deaths and counting due to the new flooding; it started as an extreme thunderstorm before quickly turning into something unpredictable as of Tuesday, January 10th.  More than 34,000 are under evacuation orders statewide. 

The storms have ended in California, but they are not out of the water yet because there are four more atmospheric river events expected in the next 10 days. While evacuating areas around Salinas River, there have been several reports of missing and dead while clearing out. With the many power outages, more than 10,000 homes’ and businesses’ electricity are out.  As of Monday, President Joe Biden approved a measure to support California’s effort to respond to the storms. 

Many people have been rescued and taken to a shelter, but numerous barriers are in place making it difficult for some. Senior California Policy Fellow Alex Visotzky stated, “If you’re choosing between letting people drown because they’re on a riverbed than letting them in (the shelter) because they have more than one or two bags of belongings, that’s a problem.”

This has been the worst storm in decades. Many people are still undergoing evacuations and searching for the missing people, looking for even a sliver of hope and safety. We all hope that everything settles down and the people can return to their homes. Please keep thinking of all of those who have lost family due to the flooding; any help can make a huge difference. 

Source: Salahieh, Nouran, et al. “Thousands of Californians under evacuation orders as flood threats continue and death toll of recent storms climbs to 17.” CNN, Warner Brothers, 10 Jan. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/weather/california-flooding-atmospheric-river-tuesday/index.html. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.