The procession of storms that have drenched most of California since Christmas are collectively among the deadliest natural disasters in state history, authorities said Friday, even as they warned that wet weather and dangerous conditions would persist into next week.
At least two more storms systems are
expected to soak Northern California
in the coming days, and with grounds already saturated and river levels continuing to rise, communities were bracing for flooding, mudslides, gusty winds, power outages and hazardous road conditions.
In Monterey County, among the hardest hit regions in the state,
the Salinas River
had already reached flood stage on Friday and local officials warned that rising waters could close all access to some communities and potentially turn the Monterey Peninsula into a virtual island.
As of Friday, at least 19 people have died in the winter storms, and 41 of the state’s 58 counties now fall under a federal emergency declaration. The state has seen an average of more than 9 inches of rain over the past 18 days, according to the National Weather Service — some places have recorded more rain in that period than they typically do in a year.
“These storms are amongst the most deadly natural disaster in the modern history of our state,” said Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, in a news briefing Friday. “We’ve experienced destructive flooding of homes and infrastructure, levee breaches and overtopping, mudslides and hurricane force winds, and even had a tornado touch down. And we are not out of the woods yet.”
This weekend’s forecast calls for two storms — Friday night to Saturday, and Sunday to Monday, together bringing about 2 to 3 inches of rain to the Bay Area. That’s less rain than earlier storms, but with much of the region already soaked, even a lighter downpour could be destructive, authorities said.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the entire Bay Area starting Saturday morning, and a coastal flood advisory for the North Coast down to Big Sur, from 3 a.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Monday.
“The progressive impacts have gotten worse because everything is just sopping wet,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the Nature Conservancy, during an online presentation Friday. “I don’t see extreme precipitation, but the impacts are going to escalate, because everything is completely saturated. There will be more flooding this weekend.”
Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
