Western U.S. storms bring flood threats, snow for Christmas
CTV
Two people died in a submerged car, evacuations were ordered for wildfire-scarred California, and Seattle and Portland faced the rare chance of snowy streets as a wave of storms rolled through the U.S. West.
The new storms, which could drop rain and snow over much of the region into next week and plunge the Pacific Northwest into a lengthy cold snap, follow a now-departed atmospheric river that delivered copious amounts of precipitation this week.
On Thursday, two people died when their car was submerged in a flooded underpass in Millbrae, California, just south of San Francisco. Firefighters rescued two people who had climbed atop a car but they couldn't reach the fully submerged vehicle, San Mateo County sheriff's Det. Javier Acosta said.
In the Sierra Nevada, an evacuation warning was issued Thursday for about 150 homes downstream of Twain Harte Lake Dam after cracks were found in granite that adjoins the manmade part of the 36-foot-high (11-metre) structure.
The warning was lifted around 6 p.m. after inspectors determined the dam was structurally sound and clear it for continued use, according to a Facebook post by the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office.
