A powerful atmospheric river that brought record-breaking rainfall to California and triggered nearly 400 mudslides began to ease on Tuesday, but forecasters warned that the risk of floods and landslides remained. The storm, which made its way across the state over the weekend, left a trail of destruction in its wake, with violent winds and rain causing downed trees and destructive mudslides that damaged homes and buried vehicles.
At least three people were killed by falling trees, and the storm also triggered a state of emergency in Los Angeles, where downtown received a historic 2.93 inches of rain on Monday, surpassing a record set in 1901. The National Weather Service reported that more than 10 inches of rain had fallen across the Los Angeles area since Sunday, with much more expected before the storm was due to taper off later in the week.
“It’s a historic storm with unprecedented rain,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. The city’s emergency shelters were full, and the city does not yet have the total number of homes that were damaged by the storm. Firefighters across southern California have rescued people from rivers and flooded roads, including a dog and its owner pulled from the LA river.
The storm first plowed through northern California over the weekend, killing three people who were crushed by falling trees, before lingering over the south. It was the second storm fueled by an atmospheric river to hit the state over the span of days. Los Angeles received more than 11.8 inches of rain, more than three times the average amount that falls in the entire month of February, according to the University of California, Los Angeles.
California’s Rainy Deluge Began to Subside on Tuesday MorningThe atmospheric river is projected to have caused as much as $11 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a preliminary estimate from Accuweather. Despite a projected dip in the rainfall, forecasters warned that the ground was extremely saturated and could lead to additional landslides, mudslides, and rockslides.
“It’s not going to take much rain for additional landslides, mudslides, rockslides, and other debris flows to occur,” said Ariel Cohen, chief NWS meteorologist in LA. As the storm hovered over LA, shelters added beds for the city’s homeless population of nearly 75,000 people. The city’s residents were advised to remain on high alert, with most of southern California remaining under flood watches.