49 According to the passage, the wild weather had taken _____ lives.
(A) five
(B) seven
(C) a dozen
(D) innumerable

A slow-rolling series of storms that battered the American West this week brought snowfall and high wind on Thursday to parts of California, where weather-weary residents have already endured忍受 lashing猛降 rain, heavy snowfall and a destructive破壞性 tornado.

Since the wild猛烈 weather began slogging猛擊 ashore向陸地 on Monday, five deaths in California and two in Colorado have been blamed on storms. 

On Thursday, up to a 1 foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell on Colorado mountains, and northern Nevada was expecting預計 as much as 7 feet (2.13 meters) on top of the 2-3 feet (more than half a meter) that already had fallen.

Conditions were improving on Thursday in Arizona, as water levels quickly fell in a Sedona-area creek小溪 that had fattened肥沃 from a trickle少量 into a river of mud泥, forcing a dozen一打 neighborhoods to evacuate. 

Damage assessments評估 were expected to begin on Thursday.