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Western US Storms Kill 3

Some areas get up to 9 feet of snow; Nevada levee bursts, causes floods

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Jan 6, 2008 12:20 PM CST
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(Newser) – Weather conditions have yet to clear up on the West Coast, where storms have deposited 5 or more feet of snow on mountain ranges, caused severe flooding and blackouts, and killed at least three people. Higher Sierra Nevada peaks have gotten up to 9 feet of snow, the AP reports, and more is expected. Some counties in Nevada and California have been declared emergency areas.

In a desert town east of Reno, residents had to be rescued by helicopter and boat after an overflowing canal surged through a ruptured levee. One woman was killed near Los Angeles when her car was swept up by floods, and two others—one in Oregon, one in Northern California—died from falling branches and trees. But California and Nevada did reopen a stretch of interstate today.

An old car sits in a flooded garage in Centralia, Wash., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. Rains drenched much of Western Washington flooding many rivers and streams. The storm, which killed at least seven people in the Pacific Northwest before moving on Tuesday, left behind flooded homes, fallen trees and...
An old car sits in a flooded garage in Centralia, Wash., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. Rains drenched much of Western Washington flooding many rivers and streams. The storm, which killed at least seven...   (Associated Press)
Reno rescue team members search a neighborhood in Fernley, Nev., on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, after a canal levee ruptured from heavy rainfall, pouring more than 3 feet of near-freezing water into hundreds of homes and stranding some 3,500 people across a square mile in their desert agricultural town...
Reno rescue team members search a neighborhood in Fernley, Nev., on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, after a canal levee ruptured from heavy rainfall, pouring more than 3 feet of near-freezing water into hundreds...   (Associated Press)
Travelers move slowly through blizzard-like conditions over Carson Pass, Calif., elevation 6,870 feet, on U.S. 88, Saturday, January 5, 2008. A dangerous layer of heavy snow covered the Northern California mountains and a levee break flooded hundreds of homes in Nevada on Saturday as a major storm continued...
Travelers move slowly through blizzard-like conditions over Carson Pass, Calif., elevation 6,870 feet, on U.S. 88, Saturday, January 5, 2008. A dangerous layer of heavy snow covered the Northern California...   (Associated Press)
A severe winter storm approaching the Sierra Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin causes delays at the base of US 50 in Meyers, Calif,. on Friday, January, 4, 2008. A fierce arctic storm pounded California on Friday, threatening to soak mudslide-prone canyons already charred by wildfires and to paralyze the...
A severe winter storm approaching the Sierra Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin causes delays at the base of US 50 in Meyers, Calif,. on Friday, January, 4, 2008. A fierce arctic storm pounded California...   (Associated Press)
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