ALLENSWORTH
New evacuation orders were issued Sunday near two small central California towns where a levee breached after recent downpours, as another winter storm brought the threat of major flooding.
The farming communities of Alpaugh and Allensworth, home to about 1,400 people, have been ordered to evacuate due to “the potential for residents to be isolated due to impassable roads,” the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
A flash flood watch has been issued for parts of the San Joaquin Valley in Tulare and Fresno counties, as well as areas in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the National Weather Service in Hanford said.
Crews worked Saturday to repair a breached levee along Deer Creek, just north of Allensworth, a historically black city in southwestern Tulare County, Cal Fire spokesman Jazz Shaw told the ash bee.
The rain started Sunday as the first of two storms expected this week moved into California.
The state has been hit by 11 atmospheric rivers this winter that have led to flooding and mudslides, downed trees and power lines, and mountain residents stranded in historically deep snow.
