California Deluge Impacts Linger
The Los Angeles Aqueduct has survived more than a century of earthquakes, flash floods, and even bomb attacks, but floodwaters driven by the recent rains undermined a section in Owens Valley this month. The breach in the aqueduct, which threatened water service for over 4 million users, highlights just how extreme this year's precipitation has been, as well as the difficulty of defending the infrastructure against climate-fueled disasters. The extreme rain and flooding have disrupted the lives of many, including those displaced by flooding unleashed by broken levees, like Araceli Telles and her children, who are currently living in an emergency shelter at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. “Even though people say children don’t understand, they do,” Telles told the Los Angeles Times. “If I feel badly, my older daughter feels badly, even though things feel more calm. But now there are people saying it’s going to last a long time, maybe one or two months. And then we’re going to feel worse when we go back.” Though California is not out of its drought, Gov. Newsom eased some of the state's water use restrictions in light of the heavy precipitation across the state in recent months.
(Aqueduct: LA Times $; Displacement: LA Times $; Drought restrictions: AP, Sacramento Bee $, Desert Sun, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, LAist, The Hill, LA Times $)
(Climate Signals Background: Atmospheric River Change, Extreme Precipitation Increase)
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