What preparations were made for these storms

For the storms on the west coast preparation was easier said than done. The west coast need to prepare for heavy rain, snow, high winds, and flooding. In the article “Severe winter storms pound both coasts” it states “Residents and officials cleared debris from drains and readied sandbags, preparing for the storm.” The storms were over multiple days and over a large area so preparing for them wasn't an easy task. According to Scott McGuire, a forecaster for the National Weather Service based in Reno, “People need to avoid traveling if at all possible.” The news officials are notifying the public so they can make preparations for the storms.

How do the storms on the west coast affect people's homes?

Citizens of Oregon and California are experiencing serious power outages. A ton of snow causes dead tree branches to fall onto power lines, and heavy rain is causing dead trees to become weak, then the high winds knock trees over onto houses, cars, and power lines. So thousands of people have lost power because of these storms. Due to multiple storms on the west coast “there were about 37,000 customers without power Wednesday morning and that more reported outages as the day went on.” according to Stan Sitter utility spokesman. The power companies have been busy trying to restore power to thousands of people as quick as possible. Another utility spokesman said “around 5 p.m. that it's going to take probably days not hours to return power to all the remaining customers.” Not only have thousands of people lost power but they won't get it back on for days.

How has the heavy rain affected the west coast?

Besides power being knock out major flooding is happening to the northern part of the state of California because of the heavy rain forcing people to leave their homes or have to be rescued later. Sonoma County sheriff's department said “rains caused the Russian River to flood early on Monday.” Which “led to the evacuation overnight of more than 3000 residents in the area of Guerneville” Jonathan Gudel a spokesman for the California governor's office of emergency services said. Although the flooding is destroying homes California has been in a drought for years. Northern California's Lake Oroville, the principal reservoir for the State Water Project, has 2.25 million acre feet of water, while a year ago it held about 1 million acre feet, Michael Anderson, state climatologist for the California Department of Water Resources, said by phone. Flooding in California causing problems for citizens homes but ending the drought they've been in for years.

How many people have been evacuated due to these storms?

Because of the large amount of rain over a span of a week residents of northern California and Oregon were told to evacuate for their own safety. In the article “Record floods hit West Coast, Californians evacuate by the thousands” it's stated “In Sonoma County, 3,000 residents were placed under an evacuation advisory as the Russian River flooded by more than 35 feet on Monday.” In certain areas flooding is causing entire towns to be evacuated the rain just doesn't stop. In other places like Wilton California the County Sheriff's Department advised “residents to leave their homes.” For some towns evacuation isn't needed but would be the safer option.