In Doyle, California, firefighters were unable to prevent wildfires from spreading to nearby residential areas due to high winds. – © AP
The Air Gods have been targeting the United States for the past few days. New Yorkers are still recovering from the torrential rains that Tropical Storm Elsa brought down their city and region. Meanwhile, California is groaning under unprecedented heat that is leading to wildfires.
The streets of New York were flooded in a jiffy, and subway stations were inundated. – © via Reuters
Tropical Storm Elsa, which arrived in Florida a few days ago from the Caribbean, hit the US states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In New York City, highways were inundated and many subway stations turned into swimming pools in no time. More than 300 aircraft had to be grounded.
Americans are trying to cool off in the Whitewater River in southern California, which was hit by an unprecedented heat wave. – © AFP
While New Yorkers had to take shelter from the horrific downpour, Californians tried to cool off in rivers and streams. Their area has been experiencing extreme temperatures for several days, with temperatures rising to record levels. A temperature of 54 degrees was recorded in California’s Mojave Desert last Friday, the highest value in 108 years. And in Palm Springs, the record of 49 was reached on Saturday, for the fourth time this year. The highest warning level applies in large parts of California and Nevada.
High winds caused flames to spread to nearby residential areas. – © AP
As feared, serious fires broke out here and there. The intense heat combined with the drying up of trees causes wildfires that are still fanned by high winds. As a result, fires easily spread to homes and entire residential areas. In Nevada, a forest area of 222 square kilometers is blazing, in Oregon at least 311 square kilometers of Fremont-Winema National Park.(floor)
