Effects
Flights departing from San Francisco were grounded, while over 100 miles (160 km) of Interstate 80 was shut down in eastern California and western Nevada due to poor visibility and a 17-vehicle pile-up. Bay Area Rapid Transit was also disrupted with significant delays to service and was even interrupted between San Francisco and Daly City briefly due to fallen trees on the network's tracks. Strong winds knocked power lines down causing power outages for 1.2 million Californians while several outages were reported in Washington and Oregon. About 500 miles (800 km) of California power lines were damaged by the storm.
The storm closed ski resorts, toppled trees, and created mudslides. Highways from Sacramento to San Francisco were closed by debris. Meteorologists predicted about 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow by the end of the storms giving hope to Californians for more water for the year of 2008 following a drier than average 2007 water season and leading to an expected water shortage in 2008. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in Orange County in Southern California. On January 5, a canal levee ruptured near Reno, Nevada and flooded some 800 residences. At least 3000 people were rescued by helicopter from rooftops of flooded homes while cold temperatures hindered rescue efforts.
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency for Lyon County. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was called in for emergency assistance and distribution of food and water. Bank firm Wells Fargo opened an account to collect donations for the residents of Fernley. Residents began returning home on January 7. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also declared a state of emergency for three counties while Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency for Umatilla County due to wind damage. At least 12 people were killed including two in California, eight in Utah and two in Oregon due to falling branches or trees, traffic accidents, and flooding. Eight of the fatalities were caused by the rollover of a charter bus in southeastern Utah. 7 people in one California home were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning from a lantern. Several other people, including snowmobilers and skiers, were missing in the mountain regions of Colorado. Six snowmobilers were later found alive after calling for emergency services from a train station. A hiker went missing in the San Bernardino Mountains. According to an analysis conducted by meteorologists, a storm this powerful had not struck California since the 1997–1998 North American winter storm season (as of December 2009).
Read more about this topic: January 2008 Western North American Storm Complex
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