A fierce atmospheric river storm that has battered California for several days began to taper off in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but officials warned that even small amounts of additional precipitation could trigger landslides in rain-drenched Southern California.
From Sunday into Tuesday morning, the storm dumped record amounts of rain on the Los Angeles Basin, prompting millions of residents to stay home to avoid potential danger. Los Angeles authorities had counted more than 475 landslides and 35 buildings damaged in the city by Tuesday, many of them in the hills above Hollywood and Beverly Hills. More than a dozen of those buildings were no longer deemed safe to enter or stay in for long periods of time.
The atmospheric river had gathered strength south of Los Angeles by Tuesday morning, dumping precipitation into Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.national weather bureau warned Possible flash flooding in Anaheim, Newport Beach and Santa Ana.
The storm dumped the equivalent of one-third of the year's rainfall in 48 hours in parts of Orange County, said Elizabeth Adams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego. He said the rain was not expected to stop until the end of the week, with another storm expected to move into the region on Wednesday.
“We're going to see a lot more rain over the next few days,” Adams said.
Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, said showers could continue into the evening in Los Angeles as the storm weakens, with occasional rain possible Wednesday.
Cohen said the ground was extremely saturated after the storm, which he called one of the wettest storm systems to hit the greater Los Angeles area since records began. He warned Angelenos to remain vigilant Tuesday even if the skies look blue.
“Now is not the time to let our guard down,” Cohen said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “The soil is so saturated, supersaturated in fact, that we're seeing 6 to 12 inches of rain across the region, and even with little additional rainfall, landslides, mudslides, and other debris flows are occurring. It's not going to happen. Everyone needs to be in a high state of readiness.”
Dozens of people had to be pulled from floodwaters and raging waters across Southern California, including a Los Angeles County man who jumped into the raging Los Angeles River to try to save his dog. In the Baldwin Hills neighborhood, an avalanche of dirt tore through a bedroom of a home.
But overall, the area didn't experience the worst of the flooding or other impacts it was preparing for, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.
“Instead, there were more than 1,000 areas of damage, including sinkholes, fallen trees, and eroded areas,” he said at a press conference Monday night.
Fire crews evacuated 16 people from the Studio City neighborhood Monday after two homes on Rockridge Road sustained significant damage from debris that storms barreled through the area.
On Monday morning, residents walked the streets almost absentmindedly, admiring the piles of mud and jumbled rocks that littered the roads. Ankle-deep water cascaded down the hill, taking with it pieces of debris. On the tree-lined street near Rockridge Road, some residents were shoveling mud from their driveways as city maintenance trucks criss-crossed to clear the road.
In other parts of Los Angeles, residents tentatively returned to the outside world Monday, splashing through flooded intersections. Officials urged people to stay off the streets, but nearly all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses remained open and classes are expected to resume Tuesday.
Residents in Northern California were still recovering Sunday from damage caused by winds that exceeded 90 mph in some places. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the state's largest power company, said Sunday that more than 850,000 businesses and homes were temporarily without power due to downed power lines and other damage to electrical equipment caused by the storm, extending the total number of days without power due to the storm. announced that it was ranked in the top three.
The wind also became deadly. Six people died in Northern California, including a 41-year-old man in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, a 63-year-old woman in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks, and an 82-year-old man in Yuba City. Residents in north Sacramento were all killed when a tree fell in their backyards. A 45-year-old man was killed Sunday when a tree fell on his home in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
In Southern California, three more deaths were confirmed late Tuesday in San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
During Monday night's press conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass left her seat to take a phone call from President Biden. When she returned to the podium, she held her phone next to the microphone, with the president still on the other side. Biden spoke on speakerphone, calling the city's efforts “an outrageous operation” and saying he had just finished a call with Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“If you ask for it, we'll have all the help you need along the way,” Biden said. “So let me know. That's why I'm calling.”
Jill Cowan and Sean Huebler Contributed to the report.
