California news

David Rodgers had barely driven one block from his central California home when floodwaters began to rise so high he could touch them with an outstretched hand. From behind the wheel of his wife’s small SUV, the commercial truck driver watched as cars in front of him slowly filled with water and then floated down the street. “It was like watching the Titanic, but you’re living it,” Rodgers said. He and his wife, his mother-in-law and three children panicked as a big rig drove past their car and its giant wake crashed over them. He tried to remain calm but his children were frantic. “One of the worst things you can hear from your child is them screaming ‘I don’t want to die! I don’t want to drown!'” he said. The harrowing scene unfolded last week while the family escaped an onslaught of torrential rains that pounded much of California, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and contributing to at least 20 deaths. Residents across the state are just beginning to understand the full extent of the damage, especially in marginalized communities, as they recover from the deluge. Following days of rain, floodwaters surround homes and vehicles in the Planada community of Merced County, Calif., on Jan. 10. Noah Berger / AP “It’s going to take some time to reveal how bad this event is,” said Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine. “Consequences of natural disasters can linger for years, and often assis...

Read more Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who is co-sponsoring a bill in Congress to study restitution proposals for African Americans, said the work of the taskforce could be a national model, and called on states and the federal government to pass reparations legislation. “Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address longstanding racial disparities and inequalities,” Lee said. Here’s what you need to know: What is the taskforce? The taskforce was formed in 2020 following the death of George Floyd, after the approval of a state law requiring the study and development of reparations proposals. The nine-person team, which includes civil rights leaders, attorneys, lawmakers and academics, spent more than two years listening to expert testimony, hosting public meetings and considering proposals. It held 15 public meetings and interviewed more than a hundred experts. What did the taskforce approve? In the draft of the final report that was approved on Saturday, the panel gives a detailed account of historical discrimination against Black Californians in areas such as voting, housing, education, disproportionate policing and incarceration and others. The draft recommends lawmakers craft an apology on behalf of the state that must “include a censure of the gravest barbarities”. The panel also recommends creating a new agency to provide services to descendants of enslaved people, and it advises the state makes cash payments to people eligible fo...