Over the past weekend, storms were the cause of power outages, deaths and deadly collisions. At least two people were killed in Oregon after a collision and the Pacific Coast Highway in Southern California was shut down due to a mudslide.
In the Pacific Northwest, more than 290,000 people lost power due to the storms.
Two people were killed and another was injured after a pair of semi-trucks collided head-on in Dundee, Oregon. The ice-slickened roads are being blamed for the collision which also involved a third car.
The third car ran into the back of one of the trucks after the semis collided. At least one vehicle caught fire due to the collision as well.
Heavy rain from the storm systems also triggered a mudslide on Saturday night, which resulted in the forced closure of the Pacific Coast Highway. On Sunday, avalanche warnings were issued to parts of California, Nevada, and Utah due to the heavy snow that occurred in the region.
Cleanup efforts after the mudslide shut down about 13 miles of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway. The closure went from western Malibu to Ventura County. Some motorists whose cars were trapped by the mudslide are just thankful to be alive. No injuries were reported; however, the trapped cars have left a few unfortunate people without vehicles.
One of the motorists who got caught up in the mudslide was rapper Soulja Boy, who wrote on his Instagram, “I’m just thankful to be alive. I don’t care about the car,” followed by “It’s materialistic. You can’t take it with you when you’re gone.”
The National Weather Service reported that the mud and debris from the mudslide were about the length of two football fields. Some of the area affected by the heavy rains which prompted the mudslides were recently scorched by wildfires.
The storms over the weekend also lead to more than 290,000 people losing power in the Seattle area which also prompted flight delays and a brief shut down of Alaskan Airlines. There were 27 flight delays and 5 flight cancellations.
