January 10, 2005
MSNBC
LOS ANGELES - Southern California began its fourth consecutive day of drenching rain Monday as a stubborn wintry mix pounded the region, triggering floods that forced evacuations and caused scores of accidents on slippery roadways.
The wet weather wasn’t expected to let up until Wednesday, with as much as 6 inches of rain forecast in the region through Tuesday and an additional 2 feet of snow at elevations above 7,500 feet. Dense fog and high winds also were expected.
“We’re going to be getting more of the same, harsh weather,” said Curt Kaplan, a National Weather Service forecaster.
The storm system was blamed for at least eight deaths over the weekend in Southern California, including a man killed when his vehicle plunged into the surf off Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, and a 43-year-old homeless man buried alive when the hillside where his tent was pitched gave way.
Avalanche death
An avalanche Sunday afternoon also killed a 13-year-old boy who was knocked off a ski lift at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas. No other injuries there were reported.
California roads were clogged with rain and mud flows, and at least 720 crashes were reported Sunday, more than three times the number of accidents during the previous Sunday when roads were dry, the California Highway Patrol said. Fire officials estimated that 100 roads in Los Angeles had seen flooding, mudslides or downed trees.
The National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles received 5.16 inches of rain since Friday, setting a new record with 2.58 inches on Sunday alone.
The heavy rainfall is being attributed to a sluggish, low-pressure system that collided with a stream of moisture from the southern Pacific known as a “Pineapple Express.”
Flash flood warnings were posted throughout Southern California. Residents of a mobile home park in Santa Clarita, northwest of Los Angeles, were evacuated Sunday after 5 feet of water spilled in from a creek.
“An eight-foot masonry wall that was protecting the structures gave way and water is rushing into all the houses,” said Inspector John Mancha. Authorities weren’t immediately sure how many people were evacuated.
A two-story home collapsed in the Studio City area above the San Fernando Valley. A man and his two children were pulled from the rubble with minor injuries.
Reno snowed in
The same storm is dumping heavy snow across the Sierra Nevada, which stranded an Amtrak train and shut down the Reno, Nev., airport for the second time in a week and only the third time in 40 years.
Winter storm warnings were in effect with as much as 5 feet of new snow possible by Tuesday morning on top of Saturday’s accumulations of up to 4.5 feet.
“It’s nice to know that there are places with more snow than the Dakotas,” Wendy Wollmuth said while waiting for a flight at Reno-Tahoe International Airport to her home in Moffit, N.D. “We’re a bit spooked about being here with all this snow.”
The string of moisture-laden storms has dropped up to 19 feet of snow at elevations above 7,000 feet since Dec. 28 and 61⁄2 feet at lower elevations in the Reno area. Meteorologists said it was the most snow the Reno-Lake Tahoe area has seen since 1916.
A lull in the storm on Sunday allowed the reopening of Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and U.S. 50 over Echo Summit after the highways were closed off and on for more than a day. The highways connect Sacramento, Calif., to Reno.
“The snowbanks along Interstate 80 are about 8 to 10 feet high. It’s like you’re going through a maze,” said Jane Dulaney, spokeswoman for the Rainbow Lodge west of Donner Summit.
More flooding in Ohio
In Ohio, all eyes were on the Ohio River. Two recent storms sent rivers out of their banks in central and southern portions of the state, flooding ground already saturated by melted snow from a storm before Christmas.
At the same time, a snow and ice storm knocked out power in parts of western and northern Ohio. Power companies said about 66,000 customers remained without electricity Sunday, down from 250,000 at the height of the storm.
No serious injuries were reported as a direct result of the storm, but authorities believe carbon monoxide poisoning killed five people using generators for electricity since Friday.
Gov. Bob Taft declared a state of emergency in 28 of Ohio’s 88 counties over the weekend, increasing to 49 the number of counties eligible for state assistance, Ohio Emergency Management Agency spokesman Mark Patchen said Sunday.
The Ohio River was about 5 feet above flood stage in Portsmouth on Sunday and was expected to rise another foot before receding Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. Cincinnati was more than 2 feet above its 52-foot flood stage Sunday, with forecasters expecting the river to crest at 57.5 feet.
Across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in Covington, Ky., three flood wall openings were closed for the first time since 1997, when the Ohio crested at 64.7 feet.
In Marietta, Ohio, emergency management employees went door to door Sunday to pass out drinking water and cleaning supplies including bleach, mops, brooms and towels, to residents who had been forced from their downtown businesses and homes.
Indiana flooding as well
The scene was similar in southern Indiana as rivers rose to their highest levels in about 70 years from last week’s storm. Many rural residents stayed behind to keep watch over their homes until the waters recede.
State officials said some of the worst flooding since 1937 forced hundreds of people from their homes. “There are problems all over the place, but they’re not concentrated in an area like a city,” said Alden Taylor, a spokesman for State Emergency Management Agency.
He said levees along southern Indiana’s White River, East Fork of the White River and Muscatatuck River have held so far in southern Indiana, but there were concerns that more rain forecast for this week could worsen the flooding.
Conservation officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources rescued nearly 150 people and a dozen pets marooned by floodwaters in homes or stalled cars as of Sunday.
© 2005 The Associated Press.
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