A powerful atmospheric river storm that brought record rain to California in recent days was expected to weaken by Tuesday, but forecasters said the risk of flooding and landslides remained.
The severe weather caused damage across the state, with heavy winds and rain causing downed trees and devastating landslides, leaving homes and buried vehicles. At least three people were killed by falling trees.
A slow-moving storm hovered over Southern California on Monday, dumping historic amounts of rain on parts of Los Angeles. 2.93 inches (7.44 centimeters) of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, surpassing the record for that day set in 1901.
More than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain has fallen across the Los Angeles area, the nation’s second-largest city, since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), with more to come before the downpour eases later in the week. It is expected to rain. The mayor described it as a “historic storm” with “unprecedented rain.”
Nearly a foot of rain was recorded on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in 24 hours.
“We’re talking about one of the wettest storm systems to impact the greater Los Angeles area since records began,” Ariel Cohen, NWS chief meteorologist in Los Angeles, said at an evening news conference. “If you go back to the 1870s, this is one of the top three.”
Southern California was expected to see scattered showers and a chance of thunderstorms with light to moderate rain on Tuesday, but many areas experienced short periods of heavy downpours that lasted an hour. There was a risk of 0.5 to 1 inch (1.3 to 3 centimeters) of rain.
Much of Southern California remains under a flood watch as authorities warn people to remain on high alert. Rising, fast-flowing streams and rivers “increase the risk of drowning and the need for rapid water rescues,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Firefighters across Southern California have been rescuing people from rivers and flooded roads in recent days. The Los Angeles Fire Department said 1,000 firefighters responded to more than 100 calls about flooding and rescuing drivers stranded on flooded roads, including a dog and its owner pulled from the Los Angeles River. . The county also reported that it rescued five cats.
The storm first hit northern California over the weekend, killing three people after being crushed by fallen trees, and then remained in the south. This was the second atmospheric river-driven storm to hit the state in several days.
Rain lashed Los Angeles on Monday, washing mud and rocks into hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes and turning streets into rushing rivers. Some residents scrambled to evacuate, and those living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety.
Near the Hollywood Hills, flooding swept mud, rocks and household items downhill through Studio City, city officials said. 16 people were evacuated and several homes were red-tagged.
“It’s like a river that’s been here for years,” said Keki Mingus, whose neighbor’s home was damaged. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The University of California, Los Angeles, located on the city’s west side, received more than 11.8 inches (30 cm). More than 3 times the average amount for the entire month of FebruaryAccording to UCLA climatologist Chad Thackeray.
Clothes, books and even a refrigerator fell onto the road, along with debris pulled from damaged homes, and the busy Beverly Crest neighborhood was submerged in muddy water by two clusters of landslides.
Despite predicted rainfall reductions, Cohen warned that the danger is not over.
“The ground is extremely saturated, supersaturated,” he told a news conference. “It can’t hold any more water before it slips. Even if it doesn’t rain that much, we’ll still see more landslides, mudslides, rock flows, and other debris flows.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department reported responding to more than 300 landslides.
As the storm raged over Los Angeles, shelters added beds for the city’s roughly 75,000 homeless population.
The dead included two men who were killed by falling trees Sunday in Carmichael, just outside Sacramento, and Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County. Police were investigating the death of another man who was found under a redwood tree in his backyard in Yuba City, about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of San Francisco.
