![]() But it has rained so much since then that on Thursday regulators rescinded their previous order to allow more water to stay in the rivers.įorecasters warned that mountain travel could be difficult to impossible during the latest storm. Of the state's 17 major reservoirs, seven are still below their historical averages this year.ĭespite record rainfall in January, Newsom worried it would stop raining and asked state water regulators to temporarily suspend some environmental rules to let the state take more water out of rivers and streams to store for later. The reservoir's water has risen 180 feet since Dec. Lake Oroville - one of the most important reservoirs in the state and home to the nation's tallest dam - has so much water that officials on Friday planned to open the dam's spillways for the first time since April 2019. "And then when you start putting rainwater on top of it, especially heavy rains, that just further compounds the threat." "It already is stressing the buildings," El Dorado County Fire Chief Tim Cordero said. In some lower elevation towns, the torrential rain came down on snow-covered roofs, CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports. The snowpack at high elevations is so massive it was expected to be able to absorb the rain, but snow below 4,000 feet could start to melt, potentially contributing to flooding, forecasters said. ![]() Snow levels in the Sierra Nevada, which provides about a third of the state's water supply, are more than 180% of the April 1 average, when it is historically at its peak. The atmospheric river, known as a "Pineapple Express" because it brought warm subtropical moisture across the Pacific from near Hawaii, was melting lower parts of the huge snowpack built in California's mountains. Gavin Newsom has declared emergencies in 34 counties in recent weeks, and the Biden administration approved a presidential disaster declaration for some on Friday morning, a move that will bring more federal assistance into the state.Įmergency officials have warned people to stay off the roads if they can and to carefully heed flash flood warnings. State transportation officials said Friday they removed so much snow from the roadways in February that it would be enough to fill the iconic Rose Bowl 100 times.ĭemocratic Gov. State reservoirs that had dipped to strikingly low levels are now well above the average for this time of year, prompting state officials to release water from dams to assist with flood control and make room for even more rain. The storm marked the state's 10th atmospheric river of the winter, storms that have brought enormous amounts of rain and snow to the state and helped lessen the drought conditions that had dragged on for three years. A truck drives through a flooded road after an atmospheric river storm system in Hayward, California, March 10, 2023. And Peet's Coffee, a California-based chain, reported that after a heavy storm, an investigation is underway to determine the cause of a roof collapse that killed a worker at a distribution center leased by the company in Oakland. In the San Francisco Bay Area, flooding blocked portions of several major highways, including Interstate 580 in Oakland, disrupting travel. Several public parks, including the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, were closed to visitors due to the ongoing heavy rain. Videos posted on social media showed a handful of homes and cars under a few feet of water and at least one road washed out in the town of Springville by the rushing river. In Central California, the Tule River overflowed its banks and flooded several homes. Meanwhile, the Folsom Dam in Sacramento County was releasing 30,000 cubic feet of water every second Friday to prevent flooding. The owner, Marlene Ruth, was not inside at the time but told CBS News she had been building her collection since 1972. On Thursday, a security camera captured footage of the roof of Ruth's Dolls and Memories, a Camino doll museum, collapsing completely. The roof of a building directly across from the firehouse had been completely mangled by the snow. "It already is stressing the buildings, and then when you start putting rainwater on top of it, especially heavy rains, that just further compounds the threat," El Dorado County Fire Protection District Chief Tim Cordero told CBS News Friday in Camino, a small town about 50 miles east of Sacramento.
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