We are talking about an eighth consecutive storm!

Central California is at risk of "catastrophic flooding" this weekend, according to meteorologists, as a new episode falls on completely soggy soils, unable to absorb new rains.

A new low pressure system hit California on Friday and authorities in the center of the state are particularly worried.

According to forecasts, the Monterey Peninsula could find itself cut off from the world because of the rising waves, and the entire town of Salinas, which has 160,000 inhabitants, could be flooded.

The most populous state in the United States has been hit for three weeks by precipitation bordering on historic records.

Between floods, landslides, widespread power outages and falling trees, this series of storms has claimed at least 19 lives, according to authorities.

The Salinas River at the center of concerns

“The entire Lower Salinas Valley will experience catastrophic flooding,” the US Weather Service (NWS) warned.

“The whole town of Salinas is at risk of flooding.

Most of Castroville will be flooded.

All roads near the Salinas River will be flooded and impassable,” and more than 36,000 hectares of farmland is expected to fall under water, he added.

The Salinas River, already swollen from weeks of torrential rain, was expected to peak on Friday, bursting its banks and causing flooding that could last through Sunday.

Kelley O'Connell, a resident of the affected area, is worried after a dike burst near her home.

"If they release the water from the dams or if it rains more, we're only a field away," she told the

San Francisco Chronicle

, while shielding her home with sandbags. .

Several areas in the region are under evacuation orders, and the Monterey Peninsula could find itself cut off from the world if the roads are cut off by the waves.

"Peninsula and Salinas area residents should expect to be isolated for two to three days," Monterey County officials warned earlier this week.

"The Monterey Peninsula could become an island" because of the floods, warned the local sheriff, Tina Nieto, asking residents to prepare to avoid being trapped by the floods.

“This is a slow-moving event” and not all places will be affected at the same time, she explained.

California, used to extreme weather conditions

A series of storms have battered California in recent weeks.

The lulls are short-lived and barely give authorities time to clean up the mess before the next deluge.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses lost power at various times.

And it's not over, according to meteorologists.

“The unstable weather currently prevailing in the west of the country (…) unfortunately continues this weekend, with two more rounds of heavy rainfall forecast,” warned the NWS.

California is used to extreme weather conditions, and winter storms are common.

Such a sequence of deluge is however out of the ordinary.

While it is difficult to establish a direct link between these series of storms and climate change, scientists regularly explain that warming increases the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

However, the torrential rains of the past few weeks will not be enough to end the drought that has hit this western American state hard for two decades.

According to experts, several winters of above-normal precipitation would be needed to compensate for the drought of recent years.

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