LOS ANGELES - Disastrous flooding could hit parts of California this weekend, forecasters warned Saturday, as the eighth storm in succession barreled in over land already too waterlogged to soak up any more rain.
The most populous US state has been pummeled by near-record downpours over a very wet three weeks, which have already caused flooding, landslides and widespread power outages. At least 19 people are known to have died as communities struggle to cope with the constant deluge. On Friday yet another system moved in, with forecasters warning the Monterey Peninsula could be cut off and the whole city of Salinas -- home to 160,000 people -- flooded. “The entire lower Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding,” the National Weather Service said. “The entire city of Salinas is in danger of flooding. Most of Castroville will flood. All roads near the Salinas River will be flooded and impassable. 90,000 acres or more of agricultural land in the Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding.
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“Many roads, homes and agricultural land areas in the Salinas Valley will have major flood damage.” The Salinas River, already swollen by weeks of torrential rain, was expected to peak some time Friday, breaching its banks in a flood that could last until Sunday.