RSOE EDIS - Situation Update No. 4 : USA - Extreme Weather

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

Situation Update No. 4 Posted:2010-01-19, 05:15:59 [UTC] Ref.no.: ST-20100119-24612-USA Situation Update No. 4 On 2010-01-21 at 04:01:40 [UTC] Event: Extreme Weather Location: USA State of California California-wide Number of Deads: 2 person(s) Situation: Hundreds of Californians living below fire-stripped mountains are under orders to leave their homes as another Pacific storm approaches. The evacuation orders are for communities in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where more than 250 square miles of forest burned away last summer. Two days of storms have already flooded coastal communities and spawned a tornado. Two people were killed by falling trees. And early today, a car-size boulder fell onto a highway offramp near Hollywood. The National Weather Service says the new storm will bring heavy rain with wind gusts of 60 mph along the Southern California coast and valleys, and gusts up to 80 mph at higher elevations. Up to 5 inches of rain could fall in mountain areas. Warnings for coastal flooding, gales, snow and high surf are posted up and down the state. But the biggest concern is in Southern California, where areas scorched by wildfires have left landscapes without the vegetation that would normally slow runoff. Authorities ordered the evacuation of nearly 800 homes in the foothills near Los Angeles on Wednesday, fearing that the strongest storms to hit Southern California in years would touch off mudslides. The threatened homes lie in suburbs north of Los Angeles, nestled against steep hillsides and canyons left barren by a massive wildfire last summer and saturated by heavy rain over the past three days. The storms, which began punishing Southern California on Sunday, were the heaviest to strike the region since at least 2005, National Weather Service specialist Bonnie Bartling said. Sheriff's deputies said most residents in slide-threatened areas were leaving as crews piled up sandbags on streets and used bulldozers to clear mud and boulders that filled debris basins designed to catch runoff from canyons. Others were determined to stay, having signed waiver forms with Los Angeles County. Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu