‘This Is Indisputably Historic’: Atmospheric River Brings Significant Flooding to CA

Alert some incredible drone video coming out of the state of California this is from LSM livestorms media storm trackers Brandon Clement and Jonathan petramala torrential Reigns and also Mountain snow again pummeling the state and this is all due to an atmospheric River a significant one one that we call a Pineapple Express yeah the video just.

Incredible to see in scary moments you know it has triggered that extreme risk of flash flooding and flood emergencies for some areas we do want to take it over to Jonathan now Jonathan's joining us over the phone he's just outside of Kernville California at this point so Jonathan you know we checked in with you earlier have you had a chance to kind of.

Navigate around Kernville at this point the good news is we're hearing from the fire department no injuries no rescues reported as of now yeah that's that was the case nobody he really was in the past necessarily the Kern River it's happened in in distant in the past talking about 1960s where a simple event happened and so that was an.

RV park that was mostly attacked there along the river that's that's covered with the the Raging Water uh we did get a chance to actually get it right above fernville where the snow and the Rapids well happen which caused all of the problems that we've seen with a flash flood emergencies here in Kern and then just to our North in Springville as well.

And uh where this this warm core system of the the atmospheric River um brought in some warmer temperatures but also that Heavy Rain that caused that rapid snowmelt and it pulled into these tributaries like the Kern River and the Tule River and that's what's caused all of these flash flooding issues and uh.

Unfortunately it's caused some problems especially a little bit further to the north and Springville where you had some homes that are definitely going to uh be at least on the edge of disaster where the river is just really cutting in underneath the foundations there and Jonathan you and Brandon shot some of this video that we're looking at right.

Now in Springville but the new video too as you were talking we were just looking at that in Kernville we know that throughout the day this started early this morning parts of the the Kern River Valley there were evacuations that were ordered a Wofford Heights Tilly Creek as you had mentioned River Kern even those low-lying areas of Kernville and we see.

Why I can't help though but also look at some of that video from Kernville those mountains it's beautiful we had clouds a little bit of fog or something along some of those higher elevations but I think that that's also the the problem here because the snow melt from those mountains look at that it's gorgeous we've seen some of that melts already.

Begin and you see the the mountains and how close they are to the town and that elevation you know it just gathers that momentum as the rapid melting was happening and that's why you have this raging torrent of water that comes over the roadways and Maps forget the closures that's where you get the.

Evacuation get the chaos and unfortunately the damage they were expecting this they were prepared for this and they did have those evacuation warnings in place as of yesterday they have what they called evacuation warnings here in California where they prepare people that hey there's a pretty good chance you're.

Going to be evacuated so that's where folks are able to have a plan be ready and then when they do come in and say hey you got to get out they're ready to go and this is something that is not seen very often here and so people really did take it seriously because when I'm talking to people they're talking to me with wide eye they're.

Shocked to see this because they're used to wildfires and that's something we just saw on our drive just in the mountains above Kernville where there was a massive wildfire that has come through and you see the black and charred trees and it's such a dramatic sight to see in contrast with the white snow that's Now Melting and creating the.

Chaos that we see today a weather Whiplash it certainly is and I mean and you bring up the fact that we've had wildfires within some of these areas I and the burn scar is an added I guess it it it can accentuate the flood of risk because now you have ground that can't properly absorb anything at all either so there's a lot of things that have.

Been working against California but I think you're right I think people really did heed the warning so when we hear from Kern County that no injuries or rescues have been reported it's great to see that people heated the warning and also our emergency crews are also safe as everyone sits this out but you do look at some of these communities and it.

Is so heartbreaking to see you know some people's homes I think we heard from somebody else that maybe there were just some some vacation homes or homes that were just kind of there but maybe not used all the time either way with this sort of flooding it'll be interesting to see what they're able to salvage.

Yeah and you guys were talking about the beauty just the the pure natural beauty of this area this is really a gem of California that I don't know if a lot of people have ever really heard of Kernville or have seen it but it's absolutely gorgeous with the mountains around and even some taller Peaks as well and you have a lake and so you have.

Such a grand natural beauty but then you you see the the real cost of this beauty on the other hand you have the burn scar right above Kernville and then you have this flash flooding event happening and so there is really a price to Paradise here in California especially where we've gone from one disaster to another disaster from one extreme to another.

Extreme and I know when people maybe necessarily think about California they don't they don't think of that they maybe think of the sunshine at the beach but really California is one of the most dynamic places in the country when it comes to weather and these extremes that we see from drought to flash flooding fire to feet and feet of snow like we.

See in Donner Pass and I think the past few years in California for people who've maybe just come online and they're learning about California all we've talked about has been the drought the extreme and the exceptional drought but Kernville there it's located in the in the Sequoia National Forest I think that it's just a couple of hours away.

From those giant historic sequoia trees and so you're dealing with not just beautiful trees trees that are now perhaps at risk of toppling over if you get some stronger winds but but now dealing with this this flood for these for these people uh Jonathan when you guys were in Springville that's where you also shot some Drone footage of the.

River there that was overflowing some folks there were there any do you see anybody out in Kernville did you guys talk to to some people I think that the Drone footage there saw a few people maybe in a in a truck and they were just outside looking looking at everything or was it for the most part abandoned because of this flood and this emergency.

We've we talk to folks in both places in Springville we we talked to Residents who were um out on the bridge watching and hoping that their homes would still be there um because as you saw the water there from the the Tulare river that that was right there into some homes where literally water was rushing out of.

Windows I shot video where some water was coming out of out of the windows of some of these homes so that's how high the river got into that spot here in Kernville as well it's a big curiosity for folks because they just don't expect to see this this is something that's historic this is something where some folks have literally never seen this in.

Their lifetime and some older folks it really stretches back the memory to the 1960s where they they point out at one of the bridges and they say oh yeah that bridge was actually knocked out by a flash flood but it was like 1966. so again this is not something they see every day this is definitely historic and it's something that they took.

Seriously fortunately and that's why we haven't heard um of any serious injuries or deaths from this you know I do appreciate this video just seeing the swiftness and the roughness of the water we have a lot more flash flood concerns and this could be the scene for other areas in California and I hope everybody's able.

To comprehend the dangers that are presented when you don't evacuate it if you are in a place that it's recommended always want everybody to be careful Jonathan we appreciate you taking the time best of luck as you're out there continuing to follow some of this weather Jonathan petromologize LSM storm tracker I'm sure we'll be checking in.

With you at some point in the next few days thanks guys I'm Amy Freeze welcome to Fox weather's YouTube page we have more great videos on the way so make sure to subscribe to stay updated on all things weather

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