Gov. Gavin Newsom declares emergency for major California storm, flooding in forecast
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday morning declared a state of emergency in response to a powerful atmospheric river storm that is expected to intensify later in the day and is forecast to pound Northern California with heavy rain, snow and extremely gusty winds.
“This proclamation will allow the state to respond quickly as the storm develops and support locals in their ongoing response,” the governor’s office wrote in a tweet just after 11 a.m.
“We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years,” Nancy Ward, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said during a Wednesday morning news conference.
“If the storm materializes as we anticipate, we could see widespread flooding, mudslides and power outages in many communities.”
Ward said the declaration is a statewide emergency. California has activated its state operations center to respond to emergency conditions.
Forecasts show up to 3 inches of rain could fall in the Sacramento region and wind gusts exceeding 50 mph could topple trees and power poles. Even more rain is expected in the foothills and parts of the Bay Area.
The storm comes on the heels of a major New Year’s Eve storm that pummeled much of Northern California, including the Sacramento region, and with forecasters also anticipating more atmospheric river storms in the days following Wednesday and Thursday’s torrent.
Cal OES in a statement earlier Wednesday said it had “strategically prepositioned critical resources” in eight counties: Contra Costa, Lake, Monterey, Sonoma and El Dorado, where weather officials have issued warnings for wildfire burn scar areas; as well as Sacramento, Butte and Marin, where there are “major” flooding concerns.
Cal OES is deploying 14 incident management team units, two helicopters, five fire engines and a swift water rescue team to Sacramento County, according to the news release.
“Residual flooding impacts could linger into the weekend before another potentially impactful storm returns early next week,” state emergency officials wrote.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Gov. Gavin Newsom declares emergency for major California storm, flooding in forecast."
