In California, hundreds of thousands of people in flood-affected areas are currently without power, and hundreds of individuals have sought refuge in shelters, as the latest atmospheric river moves through the state.

This weather event is bringing hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall, exacerbating the flooding in already affected neighborhoods, CNN reported.

The strength of the wind was such that it is believed to have caused glass to fall from a high-rise building in downtown San Francisco. Additionally, trees and power lines were knocked down in various locations throughout the state due to the strong winds.

On Tuesday, the storm heavily affected the public transit system in the San Francisco Bay area, which is commonly referred to as BART.

According to BART spokeswoman Cheryl Stalter, the majority of their service disruptions were caused by trees being knocked over by the high winds and branches falling onto the tracks.

According to the National Weather Service, the top wind gusts recorded during the storm were 74 mph at San Francisco Airport, 97 mph at Santa Clara County’s Loma Prieta, and 93 mph at Alameda County’s Mines Tower, as reported by CNN.

As a result of the storm’s strong winds and heavy rain, PowerOutage.US reports that over 206,000 homes and businesses across California were without power early Wednesday. A significant number of these outages occurred in Santa Clara County, located south of San Francisco.

As the storm continues to bring repeated rounds of heavy rain and mountain snow, approximately 30 million people across California are still under flood alerts. The rain is falling on already saturated ground, creating a high risk of dangerous floods and mudslides.

On Tuesday night, California Governor Gavin Newsom expanded the state of emergency to include 43 out of 58 counties due to the havoc wreaked by the high winds and intense rain.

The current storm marks the 11th atmospheric river of the winter season in California. These long and narrow bands of moisture can transport saturated air over thousands of miles, resembling a fire hose.

This latest atmospheric river has arrived after another storm that caused significant damage, especially in central California.

Written by staff