(NewsNation) — Severe weather on both coasts is wreaking havoc on homes, infrastructure and power grids.

The latest powerful atmospheric river to drench California has put nearly 27,000 people under evacuation orders as of Tuesday due to flooding and landslide risks. On the central California coast, workers hauled truckloads of rocks to plug a broken river levee amid steady rain and wind.

On the other end of the country, a winter storm dumped heavy, wet snow in parts of the Northeast on Tuesday, causing tens of thousands of power outages, widespread school closings, dangerous driving conditions and a plane to slide off a taxiway.

California

At one end of the muddy Pajaro River’s ruptured levee, the long arm of a yellow earth-moving machine pressed rocks into place before big boulders were brought in to fill the gap that opened late Friday, about 70 miles south of San Francisco.

Forecasters warned of potentially damaging winds with gusts up to 70 mph, and there were numerous reports of falling trees. Power outages hit more than 330,000 utility customers in northern and central areas, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

The new storm initially spread light to moderate rain over the state’s north and central regions. But the National Weather Service said the storm was moving more quickly than expected and most of the precipitation would shift southward.

So far this winter, California has been battered by 10 previous atmospheric rivers — long plumes of moisture from the Pacific Ocean — as well as powerful storms fueled by arctic air that produced blizzard conditions. On the East Coast, the start of a winter storm with heavy, wet snow caused a plane to slide off a runway and led to hundreds of school closings, canceled flights and thousands of power outages Tuesday.

Along the Southern California coast, evacuation orders began at 8 a.m. in Santa Barbara County for several areas burned by wildfires in recent years, creating an increased risk of flash floods and debris flows.

The storm added to woes that caused emergency declarations for 40 counties.

In addition to evacuation orders, more than 71,600 people were under evacuation warnings and 546 people were in shelters, said Brian Ferguson, spokesperson for the California Office of Emergency Services.

More flooding was expected on the central coast, where the Pajaro River swelled with runoff from last week’s atmospheric river. Authorities had not received reports of any deaths or missing persons related to the storm as of Monday afternoon.

The levee breach grew to at least 400 feet since the failure late Friday, officials said. More than 8,500 people were forced to evacuate, and about 50 people were rescued as the water rose that night.

Pajaro, an unincorporated community known for its strawberry crops, was largely flooded. Some residents of the largely Latino farmworker community stayed. Others went to an emergency shelter where they wondered what became of their homes.

A second 100-foot breach in the levee opened closer to the Pacific Coast, providing a “relief valve” for floodwaters to recede near the mouth of the river, officials said at a news conference Monday.

Built in the late 1940s to provide flood protection, the levee was a known risk for decades and had several breaches in the 1990s. Emergency repairs to a section of the berm were undertaken in January. A $400 million rebuild is set to begin in the next few years.

“We had so many years of drought and they could’ve fixed the levee way back and they didn’t,” said Garcia, the Pajaro evacuee. “This is the second time it happened. Back in 1995, same thing. We lost everything.”

The river separates Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Highway 1, a main link between the two counties, was closed along with several other roads.

Massachusetts

The storm’s path included parts of New England, upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Snow totals by the time it winds up Wednesday are expected to range from a few inches to a few feet, depending on the area.

About two feet of snow fell in parts of northern New York and the Catskill Mountains, and Gov. Kathy Hochul said some areas could get an additional foot of snow by Wednesday morning. In New Hampshire, state police asked drivers to stay off the roads Tuesday afternoon due to whiteout conditions. State police said they had dealt with more than 120 crashes.

In Derry, New Hampshire, firefighters and police officers used chainsaws, shovels and their bare hands to rescue a girl who was trapped under a fallen tree. Authorities said the girl had been playing outside near a parent who was clearing snow when the tree fell on her. The girl was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

All northbound lanes of Interstate 95 on the Piscataqua River Bridge between Maine and New Hampshire were shut down after two tractor trailer trucks became stuck on the bridge due to icy conditions.

In the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, heavy, wet snow made driving treacherous, weighing down tree limbs and causing several spinouts. The storm dumped at least a foot of wintry mix in some areas.

Further east in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where as much as 18 inches of snow was reported to have fallen, Jean Guerrer said the conditions were too dangerous for him to drive to work as a Boston-based taxi driver.