FRESNO, Calif. — At least one person has died as the first of two atmospheric river storms descended Friday on California, prompting widespread evacuation orders as it flooded creeks and rivers and dropped warm, heavy rains atop the state’s near-record snowpack.
The person, who has not been identified, was killed when a portion of a roof collapsed at a coffee distribution warehouse in Oakland, authorities said. He was a worker at the facility, where at least one other employee was injured in the collapse.
Gov. Gavin Newsom requested an emergency declaration from President Joe Biden, which would authorize federal support for state and local responses to the storm.
Newsom on Thursday proclaimed a state of emergency in 21 counties, activating the California National Guard and other state agencies to respond to storm-related emergencies.
“California is deploying every tool we have to protect communities from the relentless and deadly storms battering our state,” Newsom said. “In these dangerous and challenging conditions, it is crucial that Californians remain vigilant and follow all guidance from local emergency responders.”
By Friday morning, the “Pineapple Express” storm — which is gathering warm, subtropical moisture from Hawaii — had made landfall in several communities as it carved a path from the Central Coast toward the southern Sierra.
“This is an unrivaled, unparalleled weather event not experienced in several decades,” Kris Mattarochia, a science and operations officer with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said during a briefing in Fresno. “There will be high water and areas that are usually not impacted. So everyone needs to be ready. … Combined with snow melt, the Kings River, along with smaller streams like Mill Creek, will be pushed to limits which are unimaginable.”
At least seven of the state’s river systems were forecast to flood, including the Russian River at Hopland, the Salinas River at Bradley and Spreckels, the Carmel River at Robles Del Rio, the Merced River at Stevinson; the Cosumnes River at Michigan Bar and Bear Creek at McKee Road.
Several of the rivers flooded in January, when a series of nine back-to-back atmospheric rivers sent water rushing over levees and onto properties and roadways. The storms contributed to nearly two dozen deaths, including people trapped by floodwaters and killed by falling trees.
Officials are hoping to prevent a repeat of that deadly scenario and were making strategic releases from the state’s swelling reservoirs to make room for incoming flows. At Lake Oroville, California’s second-largest reservoir, officials had already increased releases from the Hyatt Power Plant and were planning to open the main spillway Friday afternoon — marking the first use of the spillway since April 2019.
Operators also were ramping up releases from Lake Shasta, Millerton Lake and Folsom Lake, among others, to prevent overtopping. Folsom Lake primarily acts as a flood-control system for the Sacramento area.
But more than two dozen river systems were already above “monitor stage” Friday morning, indicating the potential for overtopping and flooding in low-lying areas, according to the National Weather Service.
The California Department of Transportation has asked the public to limit nonessential travel during the peak of the storm in affected areas and to be extremely cautious if travel is necessary. As little as 1 foot of water can sweep a car off the road, the agency warned.
Nearly 90 flood watches and advisories were in effect across the state, including urgent flash flood warnings in portions of Tulare, Fresno and San Luis Obispo counties. Evacuation warnings were in effect for dozens of communities as reports of rapidly rising rivers, streams and creeks rang out.
“A dangerous excessive rainfall event is underway across much of Central California,” the weather service said. Rainfall totals of up to 9 inches are possible in many areas, with the highest flood risk in coastal areas from Salinas to San Luis Obispo and throughout the Central Valley.
