UPI – by Matt BradwellSAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 12 (UPI) — Tens of thousands of California residents remain without power, hundreds of flights are grounded and at least two people are dead as severe storms continue to pound the western United States.
High winds in Oregon caused an 8- to 10-inch tree branch to fall onto Phillip Crosby, a 40-year-old homeless man camping along the Pacific Coast Trail in Jackson County. Authorities say Crosby complained the impact was prohibiting his ability to breathe and died as rescuers were attempting assist him.
In Portland, a young boy is dead after a falling tree struck the vehicle he was riding in. The car behind his swerved a struck a tree, sending that driver to emergency room with life threatening injuries.
Pacific Gas and Electric has restored power for more than a quarter-million Californians affected by the Pineapple Express, but roughly 14,000 residents are still in the dark.
San Francisco International Airport was forced to cancel 236 flights, constituting 40 percent of all U.S. cancellations on Thursday. Residents in Los Angeles, like much of the state, are facing flash flood conditions as a year of wildfires and drought left the area with little natural irrigation.
“Right before approaching Bayshore Boulevard, the freeway was completely flooded on both the north and southbound side, with multiple cars stuck in the water, and the respective vehicle owners sitting inside,” a Los Angeles resident told CNN.
“Cars were passing through the flooded waters in a single-file line, with authorities doing their best to guide them through.”
While the weather pattern is steadily moving through the area and will likely have passed through by Saturday, meteorologists warn Californians to take seriously their Friday commute, even if conditions appear improved.
“It is going to be a rather messy morning for people trying to get to work,” Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel, told parent outlet NBC News.
“People will have to deal with the high winds and there could be pooling on the roadways and even some localized flooding.”
THAT was a wet one!