Plumbing

Flood alerts nonetheless in place for 21 million throughout Southern California, together with Los Angeles and San Diego

As of Saturday, there are flood warnings for 21 million people across Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego. Flooding, downed trees and damaged power lines were likely through Saturday morning as the storm swept across the state, the National Weather Service said.

The heaviest rain in the state was expected on Saturday morning. So far, Topanga has received 9.36 inches of rain, while Pasadena and Los Angeles have received 3.62 and 3.46 inches, respectively. Another 1 to 4 inches are possible.

Across the country, half a million homes and businesses in southern Michigan were left without power as of Friday night after an ice storm battered the region, and officials warned power could not return for many until Sunday.

In Michigan, about 500,000 utility customers were out of power Friday, according to poweroutage.us, with outages reported from Lake Michigan to Lake Erie. Over much of the region, temperatures should drop into the 20s overnight and drop into the teens with the wind chill, the National Weather Service said.

Mark Miller clears debris after ice storm damage in Kalamazoo Township, Michigan (Rodney Coleman-Robinson/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP file)

Almost 400,000 were left without power as of Saturday night, according to poweroutage.us.

Light snowfall was expected across much of the area, according to the agency.

In Lansing, city officials initiated a “Code Blue” plan to respond to cold weather, repurposing libraries, community centers and other buildings as heat centers. County officials also opened warm centers in Lenawee County and the Red Cross operated a 24-hour shelter.

Officials urged Kalamazoo residents to prevent frozen pipes by opening cupboards around their lines and running a “pencil-sized” stream of water from a faucet if their internal temperature dropped below 32 degrees.

In Jackson, south of Lansing, resident George Ellis cooked outside on a gas-powered grill while a generator provided enough electricity to keep a refrigerator and space heater running, Lansing-based NBC affiliate WILX reported.

The story goes on

When the broadcaster asked how he and his wife were doing, he answered with a single word: cold.

Garrick Rochow, chief executive officer of the state’s largest utility, Consumers Energy, said Friday that power would be restored to the majority of the company’s customers by Sunday. Rochow described the utility’s response as “all hands on deck” and said 540 crews were deployed across the state.

Detroit-based DTE Energy President Trevor Lauer estimated that 95% of this utility’s homes and businesses would also have power by Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Lauer described the great winter storm that hit the area as “historic” and likened the quarter inch of ice that fell on the electrical system to a “baby grand piano hanging on those wires.”

Warmer weather is expected this weekend, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees on Sunday.

San Francisco on Friday recorded its lowest temperature on record — 39 degrees, while parts of Northern California that rarely see snow reported several inches or more between Thursday and Friday, according to the weather service.

In Southern California, the first snowstorm warning ever issued by the National Weather Service’s San Diego office remained in effect through Saturday afternoon. The same warning was issued for the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties for the first time since 1989, the weather service said.

Heavy snow and blizzard conditions will persist in parts of the Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges on Saturday. Snow reports to date include 45 inches at Soda Springs and 37 inches at Big Bear Lake. Additional snow accumulations of about a foot are likely, with more likelihood over the highest passes and peaks.

A plow clears snow on Mount Baldy Road in the city of Mount Baldy, California February 24, 2023. - Californians, who are more used to flip-flops and shorts, enveloped the warm Thursday in a rare winter blizzard, the first since more than 30 years ago, loomed over Los Angeles even as the US east coast basked in summer temperatures.  (Allison Dinner / AFP - Getty Images)

A plow clears snow on Mount Baldy Road in the city of Mount Baldy, California February 24, 2023. – Californians, who are more used to flip-flops and shorts, enveloped the warm Thursday in a rare winter blizzard, the first since more than 30 years ago, loomed over Los Angeles even as the US east coast basked in summer temperatures. (Allison Dinner / AFP – Getty Images)

More than 113,000 people in the state were without power as of Saturday night, according to poweroutage.us.

The storm is expected to hit the Central High Plains by Sunday night, the weather service said. This puts 4 million people at risk of severe weather, including in Oklahoma City, Abilene, Texas and Wichita, Kansas.

In this storm system, large hail and damaging winds will be the primary threats, with an isolated tornado also expected in the late afternoon and evening hours.

As this system advances east Monday, there is a low risk of severe weather throughout the Ohio Valley. That includes 5 million in the cities of Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, with the primary concern damaging wind gusts over 60 miles per hour.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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