Melting Snow and Rising River Waters Force Out Residents

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities have ordered residents along a swelling river in Central California to head for higher ground.

Tony Botti of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that the Kings River has begun to flood a mobile home park east of Fresno.

The rising water is raging with snow melting high in the Sierra Nevada from record storms this winter.

Botti says some residents of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park were ordered to leave; others have been put on warning. More than 55 people live in the community.

Botti says the river could continue to rise this week as summertime temperatures throughout the West soar.

Raging rivers throughout California charged with the massive snowmelt have caused several drownings.

Authorities encourage everybody to exercise extreme caution around the fast-moving, ice cold rivers.