Mudslides, flooding and gale-force winds are battering much of California as a severe storm system continues to deluge the west coast for a second day.
More than half a million homes in the Sunshine State have been struck by power outages, and one man has reportedly died in Sacramento Valley after he was crushed by a toppled tree.
At least 566, 502 households in the state suffered power cuts as of Monday morning, according to national tracker poweroutage.us.
Downpours of up to 1 inch every hour could impact Los Angeles for a least 24 hours over Monday, forecasters have warned.
The storm is the second severe weather system to batter California over the past week, and it arrived just as Los Angeles welcomed celebrities for the GrammyAwards on Sunday night.
The severe conditions prompted the National Weather Service's (NWS) Bay Area office to issue a rare hurricane-force wind warning for Big Sur and nearby areas. Residents have been urged to 'protect life' and to stay home wherever possible.
It comes as 82-year-old David Gomes died after he was struck by a large redwood tree in Yuba City, northern California, on Sunday night, per ABC10.
Meanwhile in San Bernardino County, first responders rescued three people from a vehicle after it was deluged by surrounding floodwater during the night on Sunday.
Dramatic footage shows a team using lifeboat rafts to approach the vehicle before helping the occupants escape to dry land.
LA firefighters have also rescued 16 people from their homes on Lockridge Road, Studio City, after a debris flow caused 'significant damage' to nine properties.
Department of Building and Safety is on scene evaluating the situation, the department said.
'This has the potential to be a historic storm, severe winds, thunderstorms, and even brief tornadoes,' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a news conference.
Los Angeles experienced its 10th wettest day on record on Sunday - and the downtown region alone was deluged with 4.1 inches of rain.
The San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County were not only getting drenched but the storm was expected to stall or reverse course over some areas into Tuesday, creating severe risk of flooding and mudslides.
'The Monday evening commute is going to be a complete disaster to say the least. In fact, it's going to be bad enough that I would recommend everybody stay home in L.A. if we possibly can,' Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Los Angeles, said in a live-stream on Sunday.
The NWS recorded peak wind gusts of 80 mph or higher in some places.
Evacuation orders and warnings were in effect for mountain and canyon areas of Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties as of Monday morning.
Near Los Angeles, the port city of Long Beach could get more rain this week than it does during an entire year, said Mayor Rex Richardson, who is expecting 5-7 inches starting Sunday through Tuesday.
California's southern and central coasts are bracing for an inch of rain an hour and totals of 3-6 inches, the U.S. National Weather Service said. As much as 6-12 inches are expected in the foothills and lower-elevation mountains.
The Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas were both at high risk for excessive rainfall on Sunday and Monday, with forecasters anticipating 'near continuous rainfall' for 48 hours.
Evacuation orders were issued for some of those counties' residents, as well as people in the San Jose region, Ventura County and two areas of Los Angeles County that previously suffered wildfires, making the denuded terrain more vulnerable to mudslides.
No comments:
Post a Comment