From December 2022 to January 2023, California experienced 400-600% more rain than average, causing one of the worst storms in the last decade. In just two weeks, California received a year’s worth of rain all at once. Due to California’s dry climate, tons of rain is no less than overwhelming. President Joe Biden approved California’s disaster declaration request, and recovery efforts are being made to support areas harshly affected by the intense storms.
An abundance of rain and flooding is devastating to every environment; crops have been destroyed, wildlife dispersed, and homes washed away, with lakes in their place. The extensive rain caused flooding and triggered mudslides and rockfalls, affecting over half of the communities in Northern California and the bay area. Thousands of Californians have had to undergo evacuations due to the immense flooding, and there have been at least 19 fatalities from the storm, and more than 8 million are under flood alerts and mudslide risk.
This heavy rainfall has nowhere to drain efficiently, and the vast runoff on roads and off cliffs and hills causes landslides and creates waterways where the road should be. This is because most of California is paved over. California is home to some of the biggest and most populated cities in the United States, and its infrastructure is a massive contributor to flooding.
California’s pavement is hardly considered porous, so when a massive downpour is added to the equation, we get an overflow of water in inconvenient places. However, several major cities like Los Angeles are making efforts to collect rainwater more efficiently to prevent floods and preserve more water for later use such as during droughts. Los Angeles is forming stormwater capture programs, with goals to create more green spaces and dirt basins and to increase the use of permeable pavement in their infrastructure.
Credit: Los Angeles Times
