A storm rolled in Thursday from the Pacific and hit the California Bay Area, bringing in a mix of heavy snow, rains and strong winds, NBC News reported.
Reports are coming in about the hundreds and thousands of people affected by what many are calling the strongest storm to ever hit the state in five years. They recorded 2.5 inches of rainfall, saw dozens of roads closed, classes canceled, people hurrying to get supplies and blizzard warnings being aired.
North Bay was the first area affected by the storm and ended up with four inches of rain before it moved on to pour two to three inches over Palo Alto, Oakland, San Jose and Concord, according to Mercury News.
The roof of a grocery store in East San Jose collapsed and an 80-foot tree in Santa Cruz was tipped over and fell on an elementary school student and injured a girl. It took rescuers 15 minutes to get the student out and rush him to the hospital for a broken arm. Pacific Gas & Electric called a blackout on Thursday evening, leaving about 200,000 people without electricity, according to NBC News.
Montgomery and San Bruno train stations and Santa Cruz parks and state beaches were temporarily closed, while ferry services at Alameda and Oakland, as well as airports in San Francisco and San Jose temporarily suspended operations, according to Mercury News.
People were also being warned against driving in Newark due to high waters. Two police cruisers ended up colliding against a truck that veered out of control and tipped to its side, though no one was injured.
Some areas are being evacuated, such as Riverside County, where mud flows are threatening parts of San Jacinto, according to The Los Angeles Times. Residents of apartments in Valley View are also being called to evacuate before nightfall, while the city of Glendora called a disaster alert level red and enforced mandatory evaluations.
Weather forecasts are calling the storm the effect of the "Pineapple Express" as the moisture and rain come in from Hawaii and end up being poured all over the West Coast, according to USA Today.
Because of this, a lot of areas are experiencing around three to six inches of rain, with some possibly seeing as much as nine inches, which could lead to flash floods. Strong winds of up to 60mph are also expected to hit the Sacramento Area, while Sierra Nevada is under a blizzard warning as it could expect four feet of snow and winds of 60mph.
The storm is expected to go down and hit harder in Southern California, with Los Angeles looking at 25 mph of winds and two inches of rainfall by Friday morning, according to Yahoo.
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