Historic levels of rainfall are hammering California as a powerful storm moved across the state bringing flooding, mudslides and power outages, with at least three people killed by falling trees.
Half a year’s worth of rain – 10 inches – fell in Los Angeles and surrounding areas on Monday, marking the third wettest two-day period on record, and more was expected, according to the National Weather Service.
Virtually all of Southern California was under flash flood advisories and watches, with multiple counties under states of emergency – affecting around 20 million people.
Crews were rescuing people from fast-moving water in various parts of Southern California.
At a news conference, authorities said rain would taper off in intensity on Tuesday, but the threat of flooding remained high due to “extremely saturated” grounds.
This is the second storm powered by an atmospheric river, a narrow stream of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere, to blow into California within two weeks, and much of the state was still drying out from the last storm.
