As people in California and other West Coast states were coping with huge amounts of snow and rain, forecasters predicted new storms would arrive in the next few days.
Snow has been piling up in higher elevations in northern California, among the regions most affected by a powerful storm that began on Thursday.
Rescuers search a neighborhood in Fernley on Saturday after a canal levee ruptured from heavy rainfall.
(Brad Horn/Nevada Appeal/Associated Press)
High winds, snow and rain also hit Oregon, Nevada, Washington and British Columbia.
While more of the same was expected on Sunday and Monday, forecasters said the volume of snow and rain will be lighter. However, they predicted a stronger storm system would move into the West Coast on Tuesday.
Snow continued Sunday in the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern California, east of San Francisco, a region that has seen up to two metres of snow in places. As much as a metre more could hit the area by Tuesday evening, the U.S. Weather Service said.
At least three deaths have been blamed on the storm. One woman died Saturday when her pickup truck was swept into a flood channel east of Los Angeles, police said. Rescuers found her boyfriend clinging to a tree.
On Friday, a falling tree killed a woman in Oregon and a falling branch killed a transportation worker in northern California.
In rain-drenched Nevada, a broken levee sent a frigid wall of water from a canal into a desert town 50 kilometres east of Reno on Saturday. A large part of the town of Fernley resembled a lake as the water flooded hundreds of homes.
Some of the 3,000 people who had to leave their homes had to be rescued from rooftops by helicopters.
On Saturday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared emergencies in three counties hit hard by the storms, and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency for one county that had severe wind damage.
Â
With files from the Associated PressRelated
Video
- Steve Futterman reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 2:19)
- Play: QuickTime »
- Play: Real Media »
More World Headlines »
- 2 Canadian soldiers die in vehicle rollover
- The crash of a light armoured vehicle in rough terrain took the lives of two Canadian soldiers during a mission in the volatile Zhari district of southern Afghanistan.
- Canadian man, 25, killed by Thai police officer
- A Thai police officer fatally shot a Canadian man and wounded his pregnant companion during a scuffle outside a bar in northern Thailand, authorities said Monday.
- Warehouse fire death toll rises to 22: Korean official
- The death toll from a fire that tore through a South Korean warehouse Monday rose to 22, a fire official said as crews searched for others still missing.
- 'Responsibility is hers,' Musharraf says of Bhutto's death
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf blamed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto for her own death during an interview on a U.S. television show Sunday.
- Canadian expert testifies as Charles Taylor war crimes trial resumes
- The international war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor reopened Monday, six months after it was adjourned when he boycotted the opening session and fired his attorney.
World Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
