Los Angeles, Calif.— In the nation's latest winter storm, heavy snow and rain pounded California and other parts of the West on Friday, while tens of thousands of people in Michigan suffered in freezing temperatures days after one of the worst ice storms in decades caused widespread power outages.
Winter storms shut down nearly 1 million homes and businesses from coast to coast, closed major roads, caused highway pileups, and snarled air travel. According to FlightAware.com, more than 460 flights were canceled and more than 7,400 were delayed across the United States on Friday.
The National Weather Service in California issued flash flood warnings through 10 p.m. Friday for Los Angeles, its suburbs, and a portion of Ventura County, an area with a population of about 6 million. The warnings were issued for a period of cold, snowy, and rainy weather that would last through Saturday.
An emergency alert that stated: "This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation" buzzed through cellphones on Friday afternoon.
The weather service predicted that some areas in the flash flood warning area could receive up to 10 inches (23 centimeters) of rain.
Some areas received evacuation warnings, and locals were advised to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.
The region's temperatures could drop significantly below average, putting homeless people at particular risk. As snow covered the Sacramento Valley floor, Interstate 5, the main north-south thoroughfare on the West Coast, was shut down south of the Oregon state line.
A high mountain pass to the north of Los Angeles was also shut down for several hours before being reopened late Friday, though traffic moved slowly and was accompanied by a police escort. Following a storm earlier this week that coated power lines, utility poles, and branches with ice as thick as three-quarters of an inch, hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan were still without power on Friday (1.9 centimeters).
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer demanded on Friday that the state's two biggest utilities be held more accountable for their restoration efforts.
In Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Annemarie Rogers had gone without electricity for two days. In an effort to stay warm, she sent two of her children to live with family and added more blankets to the bed.
It's pretty miserable, she remarked. We do have a gas fireplace in one of the rooms that keep us warm. Over 820,000 customers in Michigan were at one time without power. Apurva Gokhale of Walled Lake, Michigan, said, "In such weather, that's four days without power." It is improbable.
Tom Rankin reported that on Friday morning, he and his wife were unable to speak with his mother-in-law, who is 100 years old. After arriving at her Bloomfield Township, Michigan home, the couple discovered her in bed "with a whole lot of blankets," according to Rankin. They assisted her to their car with the intention of waiting out the outage at a different relative's house.
According to Trevor Lauer, president of Detroit-based DTE Electric, "we haven't had an ice storm in the last 50 years that has affected our infrastructure like this." The storms have claimed at least three lives.
According to Portland, Oregon, authorities, a person passed away from hyperthermia. After receiving the city's second-heaviest snowfall on record this week (nearly 11 inches), a large portion of Portland was shut down, with icy roads not expected to thaw until Saturday (28 centimeters).
Tim Varner sheltered from some of the wind, ice, and snow by curling up with blankets in a Portland storefront doorway.
The 57-year-old, who has been homeless for 20 years, said it was too difficult to push a shopping cart containing his belongings to get to one of the six overnight shelters that local officials opened.
"The snow accumulates on your cart's wheels, causing you to encounter slippery areas where you are unable to gain traction.
Santa Cruz County in Northern California saw snowfall as a result of closed roads and stranded drivers.
Hundreds of people in the San Francisco Bay Area drove up to Mount Tamalpais, which has a height of 2,500 feet (760 meters), to enjoy the snow, which was unusual for the region.
Shankar Krishnan, a resident of San Francisco, awoke at four in the morning and went outside in the hope of seeing snow for the first time in a long time. It feels fantastic. Snow is falling from the sky," Krishnan said. "This place is lovely." A Major League Soccer season-opening match in Southern California was postponed, and some schools in Nevada and northern Arizona were closed.
The storm has increased the amount of significant precipitation from the "atmospheric rivers" in December and January, which has improved the outlook for California's drought. However, water managers are still being cautious due to a recent pattern of abrupt changes in hydrologic conditions.
Source: APNews