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Some 4.5 million people are under flood watch, tens of thousands of homes have lost power and 18 people have died since late December as northern and central California have been hit by record torrential rains.
Among all the disappearances and destructions, a tragedy has particularly moved California: that of a five-year-old boy who has disappeared since Monday, January 9, in San Miguel, south of San Francisco.
Tragedy in San Miguel
On Monday morning, Kyle was driving to school in his mother’s car when floodwaters suddenly surged onto the highway, our Miami correspondent David Thomson reports. In a matter of minutes, the highway of San Miguel, a small town in central California, became a torrent so powerful that it swept away the car of the five-year-old boy and his mother.
In extremis, the residents managed to save the mother by grabbing her arm, but it was impossible to hold Kyle down; the child was swept away by the waters. On Wednesday night he continued his search. His story moves all of California and illustrates the violence of the bad weather that has lasted for several weeks now.
The nightmare is far from over
From Los Angeles to Fresno, passing through San Francisco, the entire state has been affected by these historic rains, with amazing images such as the holes that literally suck cars in roads gutted by gigantic mudslides.
And “we’re not out of the woods yet,” warns Gov. Gavin Newsom, who expects the storms to last through at least January 18. A hurricane watch was issued Wednesday night.
Megadroughts. Wildfires. Historic floods and atmospheric rivers.
This whiplash weather is not an anomaly.
California is proof that the climate crisis is real and we have to take it seriously. pic.twitter.com/XWd35aWOOj
—Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2023
Torrential rains on already saturated ground have caused widespread power outages and flooding, uprooted trees and cut off major roads. In some areas, rainfall levels not seen in 150 years were recorded.
extreme phenomena
Although it is difficult to establish a direct relationship between these serial storms and climate change, scientists regularly explain that warming increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
These torrential rains will not be enough, however, to replenish California’s water supply. According to experts, it would take several winters with above-normal rainfall to compensate for the drought of recent years.
