Floods sweep California – People leave their homes in the famous city of Montecito

The storms that have been hitting California for 10 days have prompted the authorities to call the residents of the city of Montecito, where many famous people live, including Prince Harry and the Meghan Markleto leave their homes.

This seaside town, located an hour and a half’s drive north of Los Angeles, is home to famous Hollywood stars such as Jennifer AnistonThe Rob Lowethe Gwyneth Paltrow and the TV presenter Oprah Winfreyin million dollar mansions.

Up to 20cm of rain was expected in the area yesterday, with the ground no longer able to absorb the volume of water after the heavy rainfall of the past few days.

Besides, five years ago a fire had burned the trees on the hills around the city, with the result that there is a risk of landslides.

“LEAVE NOW!” the Montecito fire department wrote on its website, advising residents to comply with authorities’ orders because “the situation is rapidly evolving.”

In 2017-18 a huge fire had burned 1,100 square kilometers of vegetation in the hills around Montecito. Without trees and bushes to hold the water, torrential rains can cause extremely dangerous landslides.

“During the last 30 days Montecito has received 30 to 50 cm of rain, well above the annual average of 43 cm,” the fire department said on Twitter. “The concentrated volume of water exposes the community to a high risk of flooding and landslides,” he added.

Yesterday, American actress Ellen DeGeneres, who lives in Montecito, posted a video on Twitter showing a torrent of mud.

“It’s crazy,” he is heard saying. “This stream by our house never had water.” “We need to pay more attention to Mother Nature because Mother Nature is not happy with us,” he added.

Series of storms

And in other counties of California, residents were forced to leave their homes yesterday, Monday, due to the series of storms affecting this US state, from which more than 12 people have died so far.

In Santa Cruz County, near San Francisco, where a pier was destroyed last week, more than 30,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate.

Many areas have experienced record rainfall in recent days. The ground cannot absorb any more water and the US Weather Service (NWS) has issued flood warnings for much of California.

In the central part of the state, the NWS expected up to 13 cm of rain yesterday, and the rain is expected to continue today.

“Two major episodes of heavy rain and snow are expected in California, back-to-back over the next two days,” he said.

“We believe the worst is ahead of us,” said California’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

Yesterday the American president Joe Biden edeclared a state of emergency.

In the evening more than 90,000 households were without electricity.

Although it is difficult to find a clear link between these storms and climate change, scientists explain that global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

RES-EMP

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