Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sunday to support storm response amid extreme weather conditions due to strong atmospheric rivers.
About 38 million people in California received flood alerts from the National Weather Service, which suggested that this storm could potentially be historic.
Fresno received half an inch of rain since the storm began on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, but escaped the serious flooding that impacted Southern California.
The same day, California State University systems announced that some campuses would be holding classes remotely on Monday, including CSUs Los Angeles, Fullerton, Long Beach and Northridge.
“Housing and Residential Engagement, Pollak Library, IT, health services and the Gastronome will remain in-person, operating with minimal staff,” said Bryan Jimenez in an article published in the Daily Titan, CSU Fullerton’s student newspaper. “The rest of the school’s services will be offered remotely.”
Fullerton was also under wind advisory, expecting up to 3 inches of rainfall and wind speeds close to 35 mph.
At CSU Long Beach two parking lots were 2 feet underwater, forcing employees to park in different lots. In addition, multiple EV chargers were damaged due to the storm.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the university is modifying its operations on Monday due to severe weather,” according to an email sent out to CSU Long Beach students and faculty, reported Marlon Villa in an article published in the Daily 49er, CSU Long Beach student newspaper. “On-campus, in-person classes may shift to online instruction or alternative assignments, where possible.”
This was round two of the dangerous flooding in Long Beach. On Feb. 1 Long Beach was doused with 3 inches of rain in the span of six hours, which caused major flooding on the 710 Freeway.
CSU San Bernardino campus was also closed Monday due to extreme flooding and reopened today, according to a CSUSB alert.
Three people were rescued from their cars due to the flooded roads in San Bernardino.
In Northridge, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning after 1 to 2 inches of rain had fallen, with more to be expected.
The National Weather Service also advised Northridge residents to refrain from driving because most flood-related deaths happen in cars. Locals were suggested to turn around and take immediate precautions to protect their lives and property.
Due to the storm and intense flooding of roads, classes were canceled on Monday.
“As a precaution, in-person classes have been canceled only Feb. 5, but campuses will remain open,” according to an email sent to CSU Northridge students and faculty.
On Monday, the wind gusts reached 60-64 mph in Merced, while Fresno had strong wind gusts of 20-25 mph.
Flood warnings were sent out on Monday around 4 p.m. for multiple cities in California including Los Angeles, San Diego, Eureka, Hanford and San Francisco.
Although the heavy rainstorm has moved south and towards Los Angeles, Fresno is still expecting moderate rain tonight.
“We are actively monitoring the current storm activity,” said President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval in a campus-wide email. “The National Weather Service is predicting heavy rain today through Tuesday, Feb. 6, for the San Joaquin Valley.”
Despite the rainfall throughout the past week, campus remains open.
“We currently do not foresee any impact to campus operations and the campus will remain open- a special thank you to our teams on campus monitoring the situation,” Jiménez-Sandoval said in the email.
