Californians are experiencing one of the wettest storms in Southern California’s history, with at least 475 mudslides in the Los Angeles area. The city saw “more than half the amount of rainfall” that the area “typically gets in a season in just two days,” The Associated Press reported.
“Our hillsides are already saturated. So even not-very-heavy rains could still lead to additional mudslides,” Mayor Karen Bass said during an evening news conference, per AP. “Even when the rain stops, the ground may continue to shift.”
Authorities are urging residents to stay inside and avoid driving on the roads when possible.
Millions of Californians are under storm watch this week as an atmospheric river looms over Southern California — 37 million people, 94% of the state’s population, are under warnings. The atmospheric river threatens to continue hitting the region with heavy rain and snow, heightening concerns about flooding, power outages and mudslides.
According to the National Weather Service, “locally catastrophic and life-threatening flooding is expected for Orange County.”
Mandatory evacuations in Santa Barbara, Ventura
There are currently mandatory evacuations in parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, according to NBC News. Los Angeles was placed for the first time Sunday under “high risk for excessive rainfall that could cause flash flooding.” Monday was the second time.
California power outages
More than 500,000 customers in California were hit with power outages Monday, PowerOutage.us, a site that tracks power outages across the U.S., reported. Currently, there are still nearly 70,000 Californians without power.
At least nine people have been killed in storm-related incidents. At least four of those killed “were struck by falling trees in areas experiencing gusty winds,” according to CNN.
A second atmospheric river
This is the second time an atmospheric river, described as “a river in the sky” by USA Today, has struck the area.
Residents are to be on the watch for rare hurricane-force winds; gusts of 162 miles per hour were recorded at the peak of Ward Mountain, according to AccuWeather. Palisades Tahoe and Sierra Nevada residents are to be on the watch for heavy snow, road closures, avalanches and blizzard conditions.