California braces for wide-scale damage from fresh ‘truly brutal’ storm

Incoming bomb cyclone system threatens to wreak havoc in the drought-stricken state while doing little to alleviate its water woes

Millions of Californians are bracing for another soaking, as the next set of severe storms are forecast to hammer the state through the end of the week. In a stormy start to the year, where heavy rains and howling winds have already toppled trees and caused cascades down streets and hillsides resulting in wide-scale damage and one confirmed fatality, the incoming system is threatening to wreak even more havoc.

“We are expecting fairly widespread flooding impacts,” said Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, noting that heavy snows across the Sierra Nevada range and strong winds could also pose problems for travel and safety. “It is really a multi-hazard event that will last perhaps the better part of two days.”