It’s a bad situation.
Unrelenting rain from the “Pineapple Express” storm caused massive sewage spills onto streets and beaches in Los Angeles County, with health officials warning residents to stay away from coastal waters.
About eight million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Dominguez Channel — a nearly 16-mile-long river that flows through Carson, Calif. — originating from two sewer locations, sanitation officials said.
The unprecedented downpour, which brought between 6 and 12 inches of rain across Los Angeles, caused an overflow of raw sewage.
“The problem is that the tremendous amount of rainwater leaking into the county sewer system is causing more flow than some of the sewer pipelines can handle,” LA County Sanitation District spokesman Bryan Langpap told the LA Times.
On Tuesday, sewage overflows from the drain covered about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
Solid waste is dumped into Dominguez Channel and Compton Creek, which flows into the Los Angeles River and ends at Cabrillo Beach.
Workers attempt to clean Downtown LA’s storm drains on February 6, 2024. Getty Images
Public Health officials are sending out warnings to avoid LA County beaches at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. Officials extended the rain warning and health warning until Wednesday.
County Health officials said they are testing the waters at Cabrillo Beach for the bacteria, which typically survive in saltwater for up to three days and can cause diarrhea and other health problems.
“Water contact during a rain warning can cause illness, especially in children, the elderly and vulnerable people,” Public Health officials said. “Bacterial levels may take 72 hours or more to return to normal after heavy rain.
“At all times, beachgoers are warned to avoid contact with water near flowing creeks and storm drains.”
All beaches in Long Beach and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, Calif. closed to swimmers and surfers until Wednesday due to a sewage spill that poured millions of gallons of pollutants into the ocean. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
About 2.5 million people in the Los Angeles area, including the Hollywood Hills and Beverly Hills, were still under a flash flood warning Wednesday afternoon.
Pineapple Express is the name given to an atmospheric river that usually reaches the West Coast after initially starting in Hawaii, which is famous for growing pineapples.
The deadly atmospheric storm has so far claimed nine lives across Southern California, but officials say that number could rise as water levels recede.
A view of a car buried in a landslide in the Beverly Crest neighborhood as an atmospheric river storm hits Los Angeles on February 6, 2024. Anadolu via Getty Images A woman stands among the debris of a house that was suddenly destroyed by a landslide as the historic atmosphere of the river storm flooded the Hollywood area Hills in Los Angeles on February 6, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
LA County has had previous raw sewage incidents in the same area, including in December 2021 when a main line ruptured and spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into residential neighborhoods in Carson and into the Dominguez Channel before the bacteria-laden waters emptied into the Pacific Ocean.
As of Wednesday morning, there were 520 cases of mudslides in Los Angeles, with 13 buildings and homes ‘red marked’, meaning they are at risk of collapse.
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More than 7 billion gallons of stormwater have been captured in Los Angeles alone since the start of Sunday’s storm, according to LA city officials.
Rescue teams were also busy across LA County on Wednesday.
The LA Fire Department rescued a man who was rescued from the raging Los Angeles River after he jumped in to save his dog. LAFD Daniel Castillo
Two homeless people were evacuated yesterday from a small island in the Santa Ana River in San Bernardino, about 85 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities said.
The LA Fire Department had to use a helicopter on Monday to rescue a man who jumped into the Los Angeles River to save his dog.
The dog managed to swim safely to the water’s edge and was taken to a local shelter for treatment. The man, who was dramatically flung from the raging water, also survived and is being treated at a local hospital.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
