The State of California ordered the evacuation of a town home to several celebrities, including Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, after heavy rains, and firefighters warned landslides amid a series of storms that killed at least 14 people in the western United States.
“Winter storms have killed 14 Californians, or more than the wildfires of the past two years,” state Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement, urging people to be “hypervigilant.”
The town of Montecito, located in Santa Barbara County in the US state of California, 90 minutes northwest of Los Angeles and home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, comedian Larry David, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, singer Katy Perry and actor Rob Lowe, is under evacuation orders.
the tv cheerleader Ellen DeGeneres posted a video on her Twitter account of a raging stream of brown water: “It’s crazy,” he told his followers.
“The stream next to our house never flows. It’s probably about 2.7 meters high, and it’s going to rise more than half a meter,” he added.
Montecito is under mandatory evacuation. We are on higher ground so they asked us to shelter in place. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/7dv5wfNSzG
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) January 9, 2023
Firefighters urged residents to evacuate due to forecasts of another 20 centimeters of rain that will fall on already saturated mountains, increasing the risk of landslides, the AFP news agency reported.
“Go away now! This is a rapidly evolving situation. Please pay close attention to emergency alerts,” a fire department website read.
The Montecito evacuation order came amid a series of storms that killed 12 people in California.
The city is especially vulnerable to landslides because it sits at the foot of a mountain range that was burned to the ground five years ago.
Also, the Police set up barricades to prevent access to the city, where several routes were completely floodedsaid an AFP journalist.
The region expects heavy rain, storms and very strong winds for today, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The area was expected to receive up to 200 millimeters of rain in 24 hours.
In the last 30 days, Montecito received rainfall “well above our annual average,” the Fire Department said on Twitter.
“We believe the worst is yet to come,” Governor Gavin Newsom said. to the media and asked on Sunday for an emergency presidential decree for his state, which President Joe Biden approved this Tuesday, when some 120,000 people remained without electricity.
The city is especially vulnerable to landslides because it sits at the foot of a mountain range that was burned to the ground five years ago.
“Two major torrential rain events and heavy snowfall from the mountains are expected to affect California in rapid succession over the next two days in connection with two of the most energetic and moisture-laden cyclones heading directly toward California,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
After storms in California, they evacuate a town that is home to celebrities
? Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, among others, live there https://t.co/E1fn1hcVtJ pic.twitter.com/VyWiDXhHM0
– Telam Agency (@AgenciaTelam) January 10, 2023
In Paso Robles, a small town between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a 5-year-old boy disappeared after being swept away Monday by the currentreported local media citing the sheriff’s office.
On the other hand, the Montecito area is not the only one in which evacuations were ordered.
in the county of Santa Cruznear San Francisco, more than 30,000 residents were also ordered out of their homes.
Several areas have seen near-record rainfall in recent years and soils are “completely waterlogged,” while the NWS issued flood advisories for much of California.
Some 220,000 homes were without electricity on Tuesday morningaccording to the specialized site PowerOutage.
Last week’s storm left tens of thousands of people without power, caused severe flooding and triggered mudslides just days after another deluge on New Year’s Eve.
