A bomb cyclone struck the western US state of California on Wednesday, a day after meteorologists had warned that the state may experience ‘brutal’ weather conditions.
The region had already been severely pummelling by a series of storms on New Year’s Eve that caused power outages and flooded roads. The cyclone delivered torrential rains that threatened to submerge the area.
The strong gusts, which were blowing at a speed of about 70 kilometres per hour, would very possibly last into Thursday morning.
Residents have been urged by state officials to stay home on Wednesday night and Thursday morning as the storm reaches its height.
The residents, however, remain fearful of the storm. ‘We had a similar flood just last October… they call it a 100-year storm, but sounds like we might have two of those in one week,’ Deepak Srivastava, a San Francisco citizen was quoted as saying by AFP.
Accessing the gravity of the situation, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to pool resources for ‘response and recovery efforts’.
An emergency operations centre has also been established in the city of San Francisco to oversee the entire operation.
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