Officials in California distributed sandbags, prepositioned rescue swimmers and told residents to have their go-bags ready as the state prepares for an atmospheric river that could bring heavy rain, winds and flooding Thursday to areas ravaged by wildfires. Meanwhile, Portland coated its streets with 7,600 liters of liquid anti-icer while officials in Oregon and Idaho opened emergency shelters to prepare for a punishing mix of snow and ice starting Thursday. Southern California could see as much as 15 centimeters of rain in the mountains and 7.6 centimeters in coastal areas and valleys, according to Brent Bower, hydrologist with the National Weather Service. Strong wind gusts could bring down trees, cause power outages and delay flights. Evacuation warnings were issued in Mandeville Canyon and other areas ravaged by the Palisades Fire, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles city history, over concerns about potential debris flows during the upcoming storm. There were also warnings for Trabuco Canyon and other areas near the burn scar for the Airport Fire. All Malibu schools were closed Thursday and the Knott’s Berry Farm shuttered early Wednesday due to the atmospheric river, a long band of water vapor that can transport moisture from the tropics to more northern areas. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist for the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the area is in desperate need of rain but this may come too hard and fast. The result could be debris flows and flash flooding around wildfire burn areas. These burned areas are more at risk to debris flows because vegetation that helps to keep soil anchored has been burned away and loose debris, including ash, soil and rocks, have been added, he said in a statement. County officials said roads may be closed and urged residents to be prepared should a mandatory evacuation order become necessary. The rain follows storms Wednesday that dumped heavy snow and freezing rain on a swath of the U.S., east from Kentucky to the nation’s capital, causing hundreds of traffic accidents, knocking out power in places and threatening to flood waterways. The storm system, which on Tuesday cut a path from Kentucky to Maryland and points farther north, brought more than 37 centimeters of snow to Iron Gate, a tiny Appalachian town in western Virginia, and 30 centimeters to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a small city about 105 kilometers to the west, the National Weather Service said. By early Thursday more than 150,000 customers in Virginia and more than 13,000 in North Carolina were still without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us. Appalachian Power, which serves a million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said more than 5,700 workers were trying to restore power. The region’s airports received significant snow, according to Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center. Nearly 7,000 flights were canceled or delayed across the United States Wednesday, including almost 300 into Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.com.
