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States — Another powerful storm pummeled California overnight into Saturday, forcing thousands to evacuate and resulting in at least two deaths, while causing a levee to give way in coastal Monterey County.
“We were hoping to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst case scenario has arrived with the Pajaro River overtopping and levee breaching at about midnight,” Luis Alejo, a Monterey County supervisor, said Saturday on Twitter.
Residents told AFP they were alerted by local fire officials in the middle of the night that they needed to evacuate.
“Just the noise of the fire department — their sirens and all — woke us up,” said Moses, a resident of the area for around 20 years who preferred to give only his first name.
He said officials later came and knocked on his door multiple times, but that he decided to wait until 5:00 AM to make a decision.
After returning home from surveying the flooding, Moses said water was beginning to cover his street.
“That’s when I told my wife, ‘hey, we got to get out of here,’” he said.
