California highways were left submerged after flash floods struck the state. Residents were told by state officials to evacuate areas of the state as heavy rain battered cities on Sunday night. At least two people have died due to flooding in Northern California over the weekend.
US Highway 101 – one of California’s most famous routes – was shut down in both directions in South San Francisco due to the rains.
California Highway Patrol reporting “water is not receding due to non-stop rainfall & high tides preventing the water to displace”.
In San Joaquin County, floodwaters Sunday forced the shutdown of all northbound lanes of a stretch of State Route 99, the California Department of Transportation’s District 10 tweeted.
“SR 99 is one of the state’s heavily traveled, and commercially important, corridors”, they said.
Highway 50 reopened just after midnight, hours after a section between Pollock Pines and Meyers was closed due to flooding from the American River.
NWS Sacramento issued a flash flood warning at 9.12pm GMT (1.12PM local) which said: “A Flash Flood Watch has been issued in coordination with the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services for southern Sacramento County for the possibility of downstream flooding along the Cosumnes & Mokelumne Rivers.
“Listen to orders from local officials, and do not attempt to drive thru flooded roadways!”
Meanwhile, the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services issued an evacuation warning in Point Pleasant, Glanville Tract, and Franklin Pond for residents “to prepare to leave the area now before roadways are cut off to evacuate the area”.
“It is expected that the flooding from the Cosumnes River and the Mokelumne River is moving southwest toward I-5 and could reach these areas in the middle of the night”, they added.
“Livestock in the affected areas should be moved to higher ground.”
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AccuWeather also held that San Francisco and Los Angeles will see more heavy rains in the week ahead.
“A weaker storm, when compared to the one that moved through on Saturday, will roll in across Northern California Monday afternoon and Monday night before it reaches into Southern California on Tuesday”, it said.
“Rainfall with this storm will be relatively light, ranging from a few tenths of an inch to about 1 inch.
“The system from Monday to Tuesday will precede a larger and more disruptive storm later in the week.
“A much more potent storm will be waiting in the wings over the Pacific and that system is poised to overspread Northern California late Tuesday night and Wednesday.
“While this storm may have a less-intense firehose effect from the ocean, compared to Saturday’s storm, it will still unload heavy rain and result in flooding and mudslides.”
