A powerful storm battered California on Friday leaving some 500,000
homes and businesses without power and threatening mudslides, flooding
and huge snowfalls projected to last into next week.
Meteorologists said the storm could be the worst in the state for
ten years with up to 25 centimeters of rain expected to fall Friday in
some areas, winds gusting over 150 kilometers per hours and over 2 to
d3 metres of snow falling in the Sierra mountains.
Northern California was the first area to be hit. But by mid
morning the storm was moving into southern California, where
authorities were bracing for mudslides on hillsides denuded of
vegetation in the fierce wildfires that swept through the region in
late November.
The threat sent residents rushing to stack sandbags around their
houses and stock up on last-minute provisions to see out the storm.
The US Forest Service and the National Weather Service issued an
avalanche and blizzard advisory for the Cascade and Sierra Mountains,
while the Coast Guard cautioned boaters to remain in port with swells
up to 10 metres high.
"It's been several years since we've seen a storm this impressive,"
said Chris Jordan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in
Reno, Nevada.
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