California storm: Floods, mudslides and power cuts plague whole state

Entire communities are being evacuated as storms arrive from the Pacific, killing at least 14

People had to be rescued after two vehicles fell into a sinkhole in Chatsworth as storms continue to ravage California. Reuters

Homes flooded in Planada as the storm sequence continues. AFP

A lorry barely makes it through floodwaters in Merced as storms continue to batter California on Tuesday. AP

A boulder fell on a vehicle parked on the Pacific Coastal Highway in Malibu. Reuters

Storms are lined up over the Pacific Ocean and are expected to bring more rain and wind until the end of the week. Getty / AFP

CalTrans workers chip away at a huge boulder that fell on Malibu Canyon Road in Malibu. Reuters

Many celebrities live in this area of Malibu. Reuters

Marcial Calleja Aguirre runs with son Oliver as it starts to rain at the Silvas crossing at Uvas Creek in Gilroy. EPA

Storm debris near homes along the beach in Aptos. Getty / AFP

Debris from a mudslide blocks a street in the Laurel Canyon. an upscale neighbourhood in Los Angeles. AP

Water rages along Montecito Creek in Montecito on Tuesday. AP

A woman and a young girl are recovering after being trapped inside one of the vehicles at the bottom of a large water-filled sinkhole on Monday night. The Orange County Register / AP

Cars in a sinkhole along Iverson Road in Chatsworth. The Orange County Register / AP

The Los Angeles River rages. Reuters

The Los Angeles River is often so dry that cars can drive in it. Reuters

A CalTrans worker directs traffic at a motorway entrance. The 101 motorway is closed near Montecito. AP

The 101 is shut because of flooding in Gilroy, which is the garlic capital of the world. AFP

The Los Angeles River flows strongly during the storm on Monday in California. Getty / AFP

California continues to be drenched by powerful storms, with high wind and heavy rain toppling trees, flooding roads and cutting power to tens of thousands of residents. Getty / AFP

A home and car are damaged after a pine tree toppled in San Bruno. EPA

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency amid the winter storms. EPA

A Sacramento Municipal Utility crew repairs fallen powerlines after storms in the state's capital. Reuters

Crews race to repair more fallen powerlines. Reuters

A resident looks at a boat caught in a tree in the Russian River in Rio Nido, California. Getty / AFP

A flooded vineyard on Monday in Forestville, near the San Francisco Bay Area. Getty / AFP

The pier at Capitola Wharf is split in half in the city of Aptos, California. AFP

A huge storm called a "bomb cyclone" by meteorologists has arrived and is expected to cause flooding throughout the state. AFP

A man assesses damage to his home in Felton. AFP

Californians deal with flooding and mudslides on Monday as the latest in a series of powerful storms hit the state, closing schools, toppling trees and leaving tens of thousands without power. AP

Naia Skogerson leaves her house as floodwaters rise in the Rio Del Mar neighbourhood of Aptos. AP

Cars submerged after heavy rain moved through Windsor near San Francisco. Getty / AFP

The San Francisco Bay Area continues to be inundated by floods that have brought high wind and heavy rain. Getty / AFP

Storms are lined up over the Pacific and are expected to bring more rain and wind until the end of the week. Getty / AFP

A car in the San Francisco Bay area floats by a vineyard. Getty / AFP

A storm that prompted thousands of evacuations and killed at least 14 continued to batter California on Tuesday, as severe weather rolled in from the Pacific — and more is expected in the days to come.

More than 33 million people remained under threat from “heavy to excessive” rainfall, the National Weather Service, or NWS, said of the "onslaught of atmospheric river events".

More than 151,000 households and businesses were without power on Tuesday afternoon, tracker PowerOutage showed.

"Back-to-back atmospheric river events continue to hammer California and pose flooding threats," the NWS said in its latest forecast on Tuesday.

"Radar showed widespread moderate to heavy rainfall across much of California this afternoon.

"Heavy precipitation will continue for much of California through tonight, and scattered to widespread instances of flash flooding will be possible …"

The torrential rain is expected to continue into the week.

"There will be a brief break in the rainfall in the West late tonight before the next atmospheric river arrives Wednesday," the NWS said.

The NWS in Los Angeles reported record levels of rain on Tuesday at Santa Barbara Airport (10.71cm), Santa Maria Airport (8.68cm), Paso Robles Airport (3cm) and in the city of Sandberg (6.83cm).

“Nearly all of California has seen much above average rainfall totals over the past several weeks,” the NWS said.

In the Rancho Oso area of the Santa Ynez Mountains, mud and debris across the roadway isolated about 400 people and 70 horses, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said on Twitter.

Near the coast, the California Highway Patrol closed the 101 motorway, the main artery connecting northern and southern California, with no estimated time on reopening.

San Francisco, already soaked from previous rain, had a downpour and even hail under a flash-flood warning.

There were reports of flooding in Los Angeles, including metro stations in the city. Falling boulders and mudslides plagued the posh celebrity enclaves of Malibu and Laurel Canyon.

The storm also caused a large sinkhole in Orange Country that trapped a woman and a young girl in a vehicle on Monday night. The two were rescued by firefighters and are expected to recover from injuries.

Residents of the cities of Santa Monica, Inglewood and Hawthorne were advised on Tuesday morning to seek shelter as 86kph gusts were expected to sweep through the region.

Montecito, the seaside community that is home to Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, and Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and other celebrities, was ordered to evacuate on the fifth anniversary of deadly mudslides there.

Montecito was one of 17 areas in the state that officials said could be threatened by mudslides and other disasters.

A seven-hour search for a missing boy, 5, swept away by floodwaters was called off on Monday night because water levels were too dangerous for divers.

The boy has not yet been declared dead, according to San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy’s mother was driving a vehicle that became stranded in floodwaters near Paso Robles, a small inland city.

Although bystanders were able to pull the mother out, the boy was swept out of the vehicle and downstream, probably into a river, officials said.

At least 14 people have been killed in the extreme weather, according to state officials.

The series of storms since the end of December is one of the biggest tests yet for disaster-weary California, which has endured wildfires and extreme heat in recent years, fuelled by global warming.

“California is experiencing coincidentally a drought emergency and a flood emergency,” Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said on Monday.

Highway 1, the route to the state’s renowned coastal area of Big Sur, was closed after a mudslide, according to the state's Department of Transport. Parts of Highway 101 and Interstate 505 were also shut.

These are just a few of several major thoroughfares and small country roads closed because of flooding, from the state capital Sacramento in the north to Los Angeles-area beach towns in the south.

By Monday afternoon the state had opened a dozen emergency shelters for those told to evacuate, including in Santa Cruz County, about 121km south of San Francisco, where the San Lorenzo River rose 5.4 metres since Sunday.

Levels on the river have peaked but there will be another round of intense rain, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

On Sunday, Sacramento County told about 3,300 people in the Central Valley town of Wilton to leave because of the risk of flooding if levies overflow.

Five rivers are being monitored for flooding. These include the Cosumnes River in Sacramento County and the Russian River in Napa and Mendocino counties in Northern California, said Jeremy Arrich, a manager at the Department of Water Resources.

“Several more feet of snow” was expected to pile up in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range in eastern California, the NWS said. Avalanche warnings have also been posted until Wednesday.

“Any steep slopes could be dangerous,” it added.

The storm is another in a series of atmospheric river events — long streams of moisture that can stretch for thousands of kilometres across the Pacific.

These can deliver as much water as flows through the mouth of the Mississippi when they release rain on California’s mountains.

The storms already have caused more than $1 billion in losses and damages, according to an estimate by AccuWeather.

The latest storms in California follow a costly trend of destructive extreme weather events last year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said each of last year's 18 extreme weather events caused at least $1 billion in damage, totalling more than $165 billionr.

The agency said the disasters had resulted in at least 474 deaths.