Tuesday, February 6, 2024
A storm dumped a record amount of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, and flash flood alerts are in effect. About 710,000 people statewide were without power Monday evening.
There are multimillion-dollar homes while people living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety.
The storm was the second one fueled by an atmospheric river to hit the state over the span of days.
Virtually all of Southern California was under flash flood advisories and watches.
It is including the Los Angeles area where between 5 and 10 inches (12.7 to 25.4 centimeters) of rain had fallen and there can be more. National Weather Service forecasts this.
At the downtown measuring station, 6.7 inches of rain had fallen by Monday afternoon, nearly half the yearly average of 14.25 inches.
It was already the third-wettest two-day period since 1877, the service said.
Search and rescue workers investigate a car surrounded by floodwater as heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to swell, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. The vehicle was uninhabited.
Search and rescue workers investigate a car surrounded by floodwater as heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to swell, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. The vehicle was uninhabited.
So far officials have attributed three deaths to the storm that first hit Northern California.
Crews rescued people from swift-moving water in various parts of Southern California on Monday, including 16 people and five cats in Los Angeles County alone, authorities said.
Also rescued were two homeless people who spent the night on a small island in the Santa Ana River in San Bernardino, about 55 miles (88.51 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, authorities said.
Near the Hollywood Hills, floodwaters carried mud, rocks and household objects downhill through Studio City, damaging at least two homes, city officials said. Sixteen people were evacuated.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said 1,000 firefighters were contending with 49 debris flows, 130 reports of flooding, half a dozen structure fires and several rescues of motorists stranded in vehicles.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged residents to avoid driving, warning of fallen trees and electrical lines on flooded roadways.
Shelters were adding beds for the city’s homeless population of nearly 75,000 people.
The weather service predicts up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rainfall across Southern California’s coastal and valley areas, with 14 inches (35 centimeters) possible in the foothills and mountains over the next two days.
Earlier in the day, commuters stepped through several inches of floodwater as they rushed to catch trains at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
Most Los Angeles public schools remained open, but some districts were closed.
The weather also prompted the closure of Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain and SeaWorld San Diego theme parks and a rare early closure of Disneyland.
Over the weekend, the storm inundated streets and brought down trees and prompted water rescues in the San Francisco Bay area.
Among those who died were two men killed by fallen trees Sunday in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento, and in Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County.
Heavy snow was falling throughout the Sierra Nevada and motorists were urged to avoid mountain roads.
Much of the state was still drying out from the initial atmospheric river-powered storm that blew in last week.
Atmospheric rivers are relatively narrow plumes of moisture that form over an ocean and can produce torrential amounts of rain as they move over land.
Both atmospheric rivers were called a “Pineapple Express” because they originated near Hawaii.
Tags: California, Los Angeles, travel alerts, weather
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