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Storm pummels California

— Photo: AP

RIPPED APART: The damage done by a large ponderosa pine tree that fell onto a bedroom in the Sams Valley, Oregon, on Friday. The tree fell on a person who was lying on a bed. He was reported to have received pelvic injuries.

SACRAMENTO (California): Howling winds, pelting rain and heavy snow pummelled California, toppling trees, flipping big rigs, cutting power to more than a million persons and threatening mudslips in fire-scarred areas.

Flights were grounded and highways closed in Northern California on Friday as gusts reached nearly 130 kmph during the second wave of an arctic storm that sent trees crashing onto houses, cars and roads. Forecasters expected the storm to dump as much as 10 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada by Sunday.

Highways from Sacramento to San Francisco were closed because of debris or toppled big rigs blocking lanes, and local roads were flooded. “A huge tree, over 100 years old, just fell across the house. It just wrecked the whole thing,” said Faye Reed, whose daughter Teenia owns the damaged home north of Sacramento. “They won’t be able to live in it. The whole ceiling fell in, and now it’s raining inside.”

More than a million persons in northern and central California were in the dark. Crews worked to restore power, but it could be days before all the lights are on, said the Pacific Gas & Electric.

In Southern California, authorities in Orange County ordered an estimated 3,000 residents to evacuate homes in four canyons scarred by wildfires and therefore prone to mudslips.

“It’s too late once the rain starts. These areas are extremely vulnerable. You’re risking your life and your family’s life fundamentally” by ignoring orders, said an official. Flash flood warnings were issued in canyon burn areas in Malibu and in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Riverside and San Bernardino counties, east of Los Angeles, deployed swift-water rescue teams as a precaution. The California Highway Patrol reported flooding in the area.

The state opened its emergency operations centre on Friday to coordinate storm response, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he had spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff by phone.

“Preparation is really the heart of this whole thing,” said Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Homeowners in Southern California stacked sandbags and hay bales around their homes while residents in the low-lying areas of the Central Valley piled sandbags to barricade their homes from streams that forecasters warned might swell.

Also, search teams later on Friday located a missing family of three, who were found safe in a popular hiking destination in the Sierra National Forest.

Crews found the family with three other persons who had apparently got trapped in the woods after the storm hit, said a spokeswoman.

All six hikers were in good condition. The huge storm also toppled trees and cut power to thousands of residents in Washington and Oregon. — AP

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