NEW YORK (Dagbladet): At least 18 people have lost their lives as torrential rains and flooding hit California this week, reports ap.
Whole cities were flooded. There have been landslides. Millions of people in the populous US state have been living on flood alerts due to extreme weather conditions. 50,000 people also had to evacuate and more than 110,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity.
– Fewer people have died from large forest fires in California in the past two years than have died since the new year from bad weather. These conditions are serious and deadly, Governor Gavin Newsom said at a news conference.
Kyle Doan (5) was driving a car with his mother when it went wrong and was swept away by flood waters. Rescuers are still looking for the baby.
– Don’t worry
– Don’t worry, mom, he said. He hasn’t quite gotten over what happened and was so calm when he spoke to my wife while they were still in the car, says Kyle’s father Brian Doan Cnn.
Rescuers have been looking for Kyle since Monday, when he disappeared into bodies of water.
– Never seen anything like it
He and his mother were on their way to kindergarten in San Luis Obispo County when the car they were in got caught in water.
– Only yourself. Not the backpack. Forget it, says Doan that his wife told the boy.
The car was taken out of the water. In addition, other objects and waste arrived by sailing. Her mother was holding her son tightly and a small bag with ID and a phone.
We cannot afford a climate crisis
– The right thing
– He tried to hold it, but it was difficult to stabilize things with the current. And they fell apart, says the father.
His voice cracks when he tells CNN that he believes his wife did everything in her power to save the boy.
– He made the best decisions he could. I have to point this out. She couldn’t have stayed in the car with him. The flood inundated the car later. They came out and it was the right thing to do, says Doan.
The car was later found upside down and covered in wreckage and mud. Mora herself was rescued safely from the water.
The search for the five-year-old boy continued on Wednesday, but the father does not have much hope of finding him alive.
– And that’s something no parent wants to accomplish. And I already knew it after the first night, says Doan.
FLOODED: Huge amounts of water have fallen on California in recent days. Here a flooded area near Watsonville. Photo: FBrontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
sea View
– A good boy
The father says Kyle had to have extensive surgery last year after he fell and injured his leg. Only recently has he fully recovered.
– He is a good boy and likes to dance. He was very talkative, very outgoing. He likes to be silly and he tries to get attention any way he pleases a five year old. He likes to play soccer and he likes the Paw Patrol, says the father, adding:
– He couldn’t wait to go back to school.
According to the weather forecast, more storms could arrive in California over the weekend.
