A recent atmospheric river hit California that carried heavy rainfall and snowfall in high elevations. Starting around Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, the rain caused damage around Southern California.
According to an Independent article, “In the wealthy Santa Barbara county, a cliffside collapse under an apartment building led to the evacuation of dozens of people on Tuesday. More than 400 landslides have sent thick rivers of mud through the streets of Los Angeles leaving an unknown number of homes and vehicles badly damaged.”
The national weather surface reported around 10 inches of rain fell in Los Angeles. The rain tapered off as it passed through California. Flash flood warnings were put out to Southern California residents.
“The recent rain storm was very much an inconvenience to me at home and school. It was extremely cold and wet at school, especially at PE when we had to run around the gym in shorts. There were so many umbrellas crowding the halls, people were getting poked and there was little to no room to walk,” Rancho Cucamonga High School sophomore Sydney Thompson said.
While some California districts canceled school, including those in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, students at RCHS attended school in the record-breaking rain.
“Lunch was horrible. There isn’t enough shelter for everyone, and it’s a very uncomfortable environment to be in all around. I really believe that school should be canceled due to these torrential rains. The flooding was awful, and the weather probably got some students sick as well,” Thompson said.
While the storm slowed down, it was still on the move and affected other areas of the southwest. According to an article by The Washington Post, “Flagstaff, Ariz., had received 16.5 inches of snow through Wednesday morning, its biggest storm of the winter, erasing a snowfall deficit.”
While this storm died down on Tuesday, Feb. 6, it still affected many staff, students, and the facilities at Rancho Cucamonga High School.
“So, right when it started raining I got multiple calls about the rain leaks we have on a regular basis. There’s one that’s usually in the gym, one that’s usually in the MPR and there’s one usually in A104. With the amount of rain we had and the fact that it did not stop for like three days, we got tons of calls. Water was coming under doors, and going into classrooms; we were getting calls to get the custodian in there to vacuum up the water. It was a pretty busy three days. I’d say we had 16 different leaks around campus,” Mrs. Stacy Ransdell said.
The rain has caused multiple different problems around the school and Ransdell said to be very patient with staff during these times because it can be very stressful for staff members.
“Be careful! When we get rain like this, just expect things to happen. I know it can be inconvenient in your classes. Like one of the leaks in the graphics room was right over the printer, and it took the printer down. In the drama room there was one near the teacher’s computer,” Ransdell said.
Currently, rain is in the forecast for Monday, Feb. 19 through Wednesday, February 21.
