WASHINGTON DC :A powerful storm known as a “bomb cyclone” has killed at least two people and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands across the West Coast of the United States.
The bomb cyclone, named for the rapid intensification of a storm over a brief period of time, brought excessive rainfall and winds of 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) on Wednesday to Oregon, Washington, and California. Heavy rain and harsh winds are expected to continue through Friday.
“Back-to-back powerful Pacific storm systems to impact the West Coast through the end of this week with heavy rain, life-threatening flooding, strong winds, and higher elevation mountain snow,” the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted in a social media post.
One woman was killed in Washington when a tree fell on an encampment of homeless people, and another woman died east of Seattle when a tree fell on her home. The storm has swept down trees and power lines and initially knocked out power for about 600,000 people, according to the website poweroutage.us.
The number of people without power was reduced later to 500,000 and service was gradually restored in some areas.The NWS said that excessive rainfall is expected through Friday, with blizzard conditions and heavy snow in the Cascades and Northern California. The agency said that severe rain could also lead to “life-threatening floods” in Northern California.“The biggest surge is Thursday. We’re looking at 10-15 inches [25-38 centimetres] of rain by Friday, some places, 20 inches [50cm],” Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center, told the Reuters news agency, with the main concerns for southwest Oregon and Northern California.
