California downpours ease but flood and mudslide risks linger
Rainstorms are tapering off across southern California, but even modest additional rainfall could trigger floods and mudslides in saturated areas, forecasters warn.
Officials say at least three people have died in the catastrophic flooding over the Christmas period.
The storms – which continued into Friday – brought 6 inches (15 cm) of rainfall to Los Angeles County, with up to 18 inches recorded in the mountains, prompting evacuations and closing major roads.
More than 50,000 people in the state are still without power as efforts to restore service continue on Friday.
The US National Weather Service warned on Friday that “the potential for flooding will be high”, though showers will taper off as the day goes on.
“Flood watches and advisories remain in effect as it won’t take much additional rain to create flooding issues today, especially in the mountains where some areas have received close to 18 inches of rain since Tuesday,” the NWS said in its latest forecast.
The storms came from multiple atmospheric rivers – invisible ribbons of water vapour that form over oceans and transport huge amounts of moisture, bringing intense rainfall and snow – during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
Emergency responders have had to perform several rescues, including people stuck in vehicles as flood waters rose.
On Wednesday morning, a 64-year-old man from San Diego was killed by a fallen tree, the police department told US media.
Another person, a 74-year-old, died from flood waters over the weekend as police tried to rescue him from inside a vehicle in Redding, the town’s mayor told local news.
And on Monday, a woman in her 70s died after she “was knocked off a rock by a large wave and swept into the ocean” at MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino County, the sheriff’s office said.
In a statement on Thursday night, Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said that a limited number of evacuation orders remained in effect.
Friday’s rain is expected to be lighter and briefer than the earlier waves, with improving conditions anticipated by the evening,
“Our overall picture is that there’s just one more day of this mess, mostly across Southern California, specifically in the LA area,” Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, told Reuters on Friday. “We still have some issues today with bouts of heavy rain, but this weekend is mainly dry, thankfully.”
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