Californians brace for flooding in areas torched by wildfires as freezing rain, snow aim for Oregon

Rain intensified Thursday in California, where the strongest atmospheric river of the season is expected to bring downpours, strong winds and flooding to areas ravaged by wildfires. Ahead of the storm’s arrival, officials distributed sandbags, prepositioned rescue swimmers and told residents to have go-bags ready.

Meanwhile, Portland, Oregon, coated its streets with liquid anti-icer while officials in that state and Idaho opened emergency shelters to prepare for snow and ice on Thursday.

Southern California could get as much as 6 inches (about 15 centimeters) of rain in the mountains and 3 inches (nearly 8 centimeters) in coastal areas and valleys before the system moves out Friday, according to Brent Bower, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. Strong gusts could bring down trees, cause power outages and delay flights.

“If you can, stay off the roads today, especially this afternoon and evening,” the weather service office for Los Angeles posted Thursday on X.

Evacuation orders and warnings were issued in areas where hillsides were burned bare by the Palisades Fire, which was the most destructive in LA history, over concerns about potential debris flows during thunderstorms.

Sandbags and temporary concrete barriers were in place across Altadena, where the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes. Lowell Meyer, whose home was spared by the flames, surveyed the storm preparations on Wednesday.

“Any rain in California comes with unexpected and unfortunate consequences,” he said. “And Altadena has steep streets, so it makes sense that there should be concerns. … I’m glad to see that people are taking it seriously.”

Scorched areas are more at risk of mudslides because vegetation that helps to keep soil anchored has been burned away and loose debris, including ash, soil and rocks, has been added, he said in a statement.

All Malibu schools were closed Thursday, and in Orange County to the south, the Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park shuttered due to the atmospheric river, a long band of water vapor that forms over the ocean and transports moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles, said the area is desperate for rain, but that this storm might bring too much too quickly. The result could be flash flooding and mud flows.

Despite recent storms, much of Southern California remains in extreme or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, there were power outages, small landslides and inundated roadways. North of the city in wine country, concerns were high along the flood-prone Russian River.

Meanwhile, authorities urged people to evacuate Felton Grove, a small community along California’s central coast, as the San Lorenzo River threatened to overspill its banks.

“Remaining in this evacuated area could cause a risk to personal safety and limit the ability of medical or rescue personnel to get to you,” the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

East hit with heavy snow and freezing rain

School was canceled or delayed on Thursday in dozens of districts in New England, where snow and ice made driving dangerous. It wasn’t the first snow day for many schools, and the Northeast is expecting another snowstorm this weekend.

Roads in Maine were icy during the morning commute. There snow was relatively light in the south of the state, but the district for the Kennebunk area, along Maine’s southern coast, canceled classes as a precaution.

“Asking our students and staff to commute in these conditions would put them at risk,” district superintendent Terri Cooper said in a statement.

Maine State Police said they were investigating a Thursday crash involving a tractor trailer on the Maine Turnpike that killed two people.

Thursday’s storms followed two days of heavy snow and freezing rain in a swath of the eastern U.S. stretching from Kentucky to Washington, D.C., that caused hundreds of traffic accidents, knocked out power to tens of thousands and threatened to flood waterways.

The storm system brought more than 14 inches (37 centimeters) of snow to Iron Gate, a tiny Appalachian town in western Virginia, and 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a small city about 65 miles (105 kilometers) to the west, the National Weather Service said.

By Thursday afternoon, nearly 175,000 customers in Virginia and about 14,000 in North Carolina were still without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us. Virginia’s Appalachian Power utility said restoration was expected to take days.

The region’s airports received several inches of snow. Nearly 3,500 flights to or from U.S. airports were canceled or delayed Thursday, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.

Suspected tornado in Mississippi

Down South, meteorologists in Mississippi planned to survey damage Thursday in Marion, Covington, Jones and Clarke counties after severe thunderstorms moved through a day earlier, the weather service’s Jackson office said in a statement. There were reports of tornadoes with downed trees and structural damage.

A suspected tornado flung large pieces of debris into the air as it moved through the small town of Columbia, Mississippi, where it shredded the steel roof of an industrial building and damaged several homes, video shows.

About 20 properties were damaged, but no deaths or major injuries were reported, Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie told WDAM-TV.

“We’re very fortunate, actually,” McKenzie said. “We’re just blessed that we don’t have any injuries or anything and everything that’s been damaged can be rebuilt.”

Hundreds of accidents

In Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency, the state police reported about 850 crashes on Tuesday and Wednesday, dozens of which involved injuries. Officials said it was not known if they were caused by the weather.

Maryland State Police on Wednesday reported 235 crashes and 185 inoperable or unattended vehicles.

Pacific Northwest ice storm

Freezing rain and snow were expected in northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington, which could cause power outages, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials in Oregon’s Multnomah County, which includes Portland, extended a state of emergency through at least Thursday and said six emergency shelters would be open. Officials said 356 people went to the shelters Tuesday night. Wind chill readings could dip to 10 degrees (minus 12 Celsius) in Portland, the weather service said.

In Idaho, a cold weather advisory was in effect, with wind chills potentially as low as minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 25 degrees Celsius) in the north central part of the state.

An ice storm forecast for the Portland area early Thursday and Friday could challenge deliveries of flowers and other gifts for Valentine’s Day. Temperatures plummeted earlier this week in Portland, which is more known for its rainfall.

Julia Duncan, a co-owner of Flowers in Flight, shrugged off the weather, saying the area endured ice storms in past winters and customers are willing to go the extra mile for the people they love.

“It’s Valentine’s Day!” Duncan said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine. Associated Press journalists from across the U.S. contributed to this report.