In California, which was famous for its good weather throughout the year in the western United States, storms hit repeatedly in the past few days, and thousands of victims were unable to return home. Paralyzed.
From the afternoon of the 14th to the morning of the 15th, about 400,000 households, including 210,000 households in the western part and 190,000 households in the eastern part, suffered power outages as electrical facilities were damaged in various places due to snow and rain accompanied by a storm. In addition, a total of 3,000 flights in the United States were canceled due to bad weather over the past two days, leading to an ‘airline crisis’.
In the western region, since the end of last year, the phenomenon of ‘atmospheric river’ (atmospheric river) originating from the Pacific Ocean has occurred one after another, and it continues to rain. Following the 10th storm on the 10th and 11th, last weekend, another 11th storm struck just three days later.
Two recent storms hit the San Francisco Bay Area in central California. Damage was great in San Jose, a large city along the bay, as well as Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Contra Costa counties.
In some areas of San Jose, where many Koreans live, power outages began at 12:39 noon the previous day, and electricity has not come on for almost a day. As a result, it is reported that residents of the area are experiencing great inconvenience.
According to PowerOutage.us, a site that collects power outages, the number of households affected by power outages in California, mainly in Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located, increased to 210,000 at one time in the early morning of the 15th. The city counted 150,000 households.
Silicon Valley, where major information and communication (IT) companies are concentrated, also suffered from power outages for a while, according to Bloomberg News.
In these areas, particularly strong wind damage followed one after another, and in a 52-story high-rise building in downtown San Francisco, there was an accident in which the windows of the 43rd floor was broken by strong winds.
The BART, a commuter train in San Francisco, was also delayed due to falling branches from the wind hitting the tracks one after another.
Monterey County, south of San Francisco, was flooded by heavy rains over the weekend after storms broke some riverbanks and caused flooding. About 2,000 residents who fled their homes and fled to shelters have not been able to return home for several days.
A landslide warning was issued in these areas as the ground was weakened by continued rain.
As of the previous day, more than 27,000 people in California had been ordered to evacuate.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in 43 of the 58 counties as of this day and ordered emergency relief and support.
The northeast region of the United States suffered damage from a winter storm as it headed toward spring. In the United States, storms that hit the Northeast Coast in winter are commonly referred to as ‘Nor’easter’.
As a snowstorm hit the northeast the night before, snow piled up to a height of 91 cm in some areas, such as New York and Vermont. The snow had died down overnight, but strong winds knocked down trees and utility poles, causing massive power outages in the area.
According to the Power Outage tally, as of 11 a.m. on the same day, 190,000 households in New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts are still without electricity.
In these areas, snow piled up around houses and on roads has almost paralyzed traffic. Administrative authorities and residents are stepping up to remove snow, but it seems that it will take time to recover.
The New Hampshire State Police tweeted that there were about 200 traffic accidents on the roads in the jurisdiction the day before.
In New Hampshire, a large tree fell in a strong snowstorm, and a child playing near a house was trapped inside the tree, and firefighters and ambulances were dispatched. Fortunately, the child was rescued safely with only minor injuries.
In Massachusetts, transportation authorities are mobilizing more than 1,800 pieces of equipment to clear snow and repair damage from strong winds.
New York Governor Kathy Hokkell said that local shelters were prepared for residents fighting the cold at home due to power outages.
As strong winds blew over the eastern region from the previous day, aircraft were unable to land, resulting in delayed arrivals or flight cancellations without being able to take off.
According to flight tracking site FlightAware, 2,150 flights were canceled and 16,800 were delayed the previous day, mainly in the eastern part of the country. As of this morning, 1,181 flights were canceled, and 12,089 flights were delayed.
Residents are increasingly worried as the bad weather in the U.S. is predicted to continue without an end.
The National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that the storm in the western United States would return next week after showing a lull after stopping on the 15th. Weather forecasters observed that there will be rain, snow, and strong winds in most areas of California from the 21st to the 23rd.
The ‘atmospheric river’ that has been affecting the West for several months is a phenomenon in which a large amount of water vapor moves in a narrow and long belt like a river and sprinkles a lot of rain.
Up to 10 centimeters of snow is expected in parts of northern New York and parts of New England.
