On Friday, United States President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. state of California to expedite federal aid for the destructive storms that have been thrashing the area for weeks and will continue through the weekend.
The decision comes at the recommendation of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who has alerted that at least 16 million people are in danger of flooding, in part because of the new subtropical storm that is sweeping through the state this week, as well as the chance of flooding as tons of snow stashed during February’s storm surge thaws.
At least 13 people have died in recent weeks in the southern part of California, specifically in remote districts in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountain regions east of Los Angeles.
For all these causes, the White House has triggered this declaration that will apply to the counties of Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yuba.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be allowed to determine, mobilize and deliver at its discretion equipment and resources required to ease the effect of the emergency and control a disaster in the above areas.
This storm system normally risks 23 states across the country, from California to New York to Minnesota to Michigan, with a population of approximately 70 million people on alert for snowfall or heavy rain of varying intensity.
