(Los Angeles) American authorities are warning residents of southern California on Thursday of possible flooding and swollen rivers due to heavy rains which have fallen and will continue to fall for Christmas Day.
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An “atmospheric river”, the weather phenomenon that carries water vapor from the tropics to the coasts and causes massive precipitation, is hitting California this week and has already caused flooding on Wednesday in the mountains near Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
“A very humid air current will cause heavy rains in California on Thursday,” write the American weather services (NWS), warning that “numerous flash floods are possible”, with a risk of carrying debris, especially where forest fires have ravaged vegetation and weakened the soil.
PHOTO JILL ConnellY, REUTERS ARCHIVES
American authorities are warning residents of southern California on Thursday of possible flooding and swollen rivers due to heavy rains.
A state of emergency was declared for Los Angeles and the surrounding area by Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.
THE Los Angeles Times reports three weather-related deaths in the area.
Images from the San Bernardino Fire Department dated Wednesday show muddy water flowing through a pine forest with homes in the town of Wrightwood, at the foot of the mountains.
Residents stuck in their homes were rescued by firefighters, Christopher Prater, spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said by telephone Thursday morning.
“We are enjoying a little break and it is not raining at the moment,” he told AFP, but “we are expecting heavy rain from the beginning of the afternoon” on Thursday.
Global warming caused by human activity is making extreme weather events more frequent, deadlier and more destructive, scientists say.
