The death toll has increased to at least nine people from California’s severe storms, officials said.
The storm, which has unleashed biblical proportions of rain this week, was expected to continue impacting the state through Friday. Tornado and hail warnings were issued for parts of the central coast, including Morro Bay and Los Osos on Wednesday afternoon.
Four people were killed in California by falling trees, the Office of Emergency Management said. Three were killed in vehicle collisions in the Bay area. Another fatality was caused by a vehicle being swept away in a flood channel. An individual died while trying to cross the US-Mexico border across the Tijuana River.
Officials warned residents not to let their guards down on Wednesday. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass asked residents to be prepared, and warned about the risk of saturated hillsides. “We cannot drop our guard,” she said.
It comes as community organisers described the City’s response to its homeless population as “abysmal” and accused LA authorities of “bold-faced-lies”.
The storm, caused by a massive atmospheric river, has led to one of the wettest periods in southern California’s record.
