A persistent storm that has battered California for days has dumped record rainfall and caused hundreds of mudslides by Tuesday as the storm moves inland.
A large area of Southern California remained under flood warnings through Tuesday, with the storm expected to dump up to 3 inches of rain in Los Angeles and San Diego from Tuesday into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The additional rainfall has raised fears of flooding and mudslides because the ground is severely saturated in many areas.
Heavy rain is also expected late Tuesday before the area begins to dry out, according to Tyler Kranz, a meteorologist with the weather service.
Downtown Los Angeles has been drenched in rain since Sunday, the weather service said. In just two days, the area received more than 7 inches of rain, making this the 13th wettest month on record.
“Our hills are already saturated. Even when the rain stops, the ground may continue to move,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during an evening news conference.
The San Diego area will remain under a flood watch through the evening because “excessive runoff may lead to flooding of rivers, creeks, creeks and other low-lying, flood-prone locations,” the weather service said. Southern parts of San Diego County received a rare tornado warning Tuesday, which expired in the afternoon.
Videos showed commuters navigating flooded streets and roads blocked by fallen trees and power lines. Cars were seen trapped by mudslides.
Meteorologists said that the intensity of the rain is expected to diminish slightly from what happened over the weekend as the storm heads east towards the desert. The potential for flash flooding began to expand in Nevada, Arizona and Utah on Tuesday and will continue through Wednesday.
Widespread rainfall of a half-inch to an inch is expected in the southwestern portion of Arizona, with locally higher levels, and up to 1.5 inches across south-central Arizona, with locally higher levels arriving through thunderstorms, officials said. A flood watch was in effect for southwestern Arizona and parts of the south-central areas of the state.
Developments:
∎ NWS issued rare Tornado warning for three cities northeast of central San Diego as of 12:45 p.m. local time Tuesday. The warning applies to the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee.
∎ A flood watch is in effect across Ventura and parts of Santa Barbara counties until 5 p.m. as the storm threatens to drop up to an inch of rain per hour in some areas. Heavy rains carry a “risk of serious flooding, especially on highways and local roads.”
∎ About 143,000 people were without power across California Tuesday morning, according to a database maintained by USA TODAY.
∎ A debris flow caused major damage to about five homes in Beverly Hills on Monday, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. The administration said that although no one was trapped, about 10 people were displaced.
Fire chief to Los Angeles residents: 'Don't let your guard down'
The effects of the weather storm have not completely subsided and “will continue to cause hazardous road conditions and increase the chances of mudslides and flooding,” Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Christine Crowley said at a news conference Tuesday.
Crowley asked residents to monitor their phones for warnings, especially those who live on hillsides. People were urged to stay away from the Los Angeles River after firefighters rescued a person from the swollen waterway Monday night.
“As the storm continues to impact our city, don’t let your guard down,” she said.
By Tuesday morning, emergency crews had responded to at least 475 mudslides and 390 downed trees across Los Angeles, according to the mayor's office. Mudslides have caused road closures and ongoing evacuation orders in valley neighborhoods with “increased risk of major flooding, mudslides and sediment runoff due to burn scars” caused by recent wildfires.
Seven buildings were also deemed uninhabitable, the mayor's office said. At least 10 of them had yellow tags, meaning residents could return to get their belongings but could not stay there because of the damage.
The storm kills at least 7 people
Officials attributed at least seven deaths to the storm, including several people crushed by falling trees in Northern California. A 63-year-old woman was found dead Tuesday under a large tree in the backyard of her Fair Oaks home, Sacramento County officials said.
A 69-year-old man died Monday after his truck fell down an embankment and filled with water in Yucaipa, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, the California Highway Patrol said. The agency said another accident in nearby Fontana killed a 23-year-old man after the car he was traveling in collided with a tow truck in the rain.
A person trying to enter the United States was swept away by a swollen Tijuana River channel and died early Tuesday at the California-Mexico border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The storm hit Los Angeles with heavy rain and winds, causing millions of dollars in damage to homes across the city and prompting workers at homeless shelters to search for more beds. Sixteen people were evacuated and several homes near the Hollywood Hills were red-tagged.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said 1,000 firefighters responded to more than 100 reports of flooding and rescued motorists stranded in vehicles on flooded roads. Shelters have added beds for the city's roughly 75,000 homeless people.
AccuWeather estimated that the state's initial total damage and economic losses would be between $9 billion and $11 billion.
The 11.87 inches of rainfall in 24 hours on Monday was 1 in 1,000 years, according to the UCLA weather station.
Storm brings heavy rain to Las Vegas and Phoenix
Areas of Arizona and Nevada were under flood warnings Tuesday as the slow-moving storm moved east from California.
“While rapidly falling heavy rain can lead to street and highway flooding in the area, heavier rains, of 1-2 inches, are more likely to occur on south- and southwest-facing mountain slopes in Arizona,” said Adam Doty, lead expert. Meteorologists at AccuWeather. He said.
Northern Arizona is expected to see significant snowfall, reports the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network. Flagstaff and Williamsburg are expected to receive between 9 and 13 inches of snow, and Forest Lakes, near Show Low, could receive between 13 and 19 inches.
The storm breaks multiple rainfall records from Los Angeles to Oceanside
On Monday, Storm River broke several rainfall records across Southern California. According to the meteorological service.
Downtown Los Angeles received 2.93 inches of rain on Monday, the weather service said, surpassing the previous record of 2.30 inches set 123 years ago in 1901. And to the south, in Oceanside, a city 40 miles north of San Diego. Monday's rainfall total was more than an inch more than the previous record set in 1948.
Rainfall set new records in Anaheim, Vista and San Jacinto, the weather service said.
Contributing: The Arizona Republic, Associated Press John Bacon, Thao Nguyen, Doyle Rice, Kayla Jimenez
California weather map
