LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 5-year-old boy was flooded on the state’s central coast on Monday as another powerful storm hit California, pushing an entire seaside community home to Prince Harry, Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities. was ordered to evacuate on the 5th anniversary of the landslide.
Tens of thousands of people remained without power and some schools were closed for the day. Roads and highways turned into rivers, trees fell, dirt slid down, and car drivers roared as they hit obstacles from falling debris. The death toll from the unrelenting series of storms rose from 12 to 14 on Monday, while fallen trees killed two, according to state officials.
A nearly seven-hour search for the missing boy found only his shoes before authorities called it off as water levels were too dangerous for divers. said the boy had not been declared dead.
Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department Assistant Tom Swanson said the boy’s mother was driving a truck near Paso Robles, a small city inland from California’s central coast. Stuck in a flood just before 8am.
Bystanders were able to drag the mother out of the truck, but the boy was likely swept out of the car and into the river, Swanson said. At the time, there were no evacuation orders in the area.
About 130 miles (209 kilometers) south, the entire community of Montecito and surrounding canyons devastated by recent wildfires marked the fifth anniversary of a landslide that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes along the coast. In commemoration of this, an evacuation order was issued. Enclave.
In Los Angeles, a sinkhole swallowed two cars Monday night in the Chatsworth neighborhood. Two people managed to escape on their own, and firefighters used ropes and ladders to rescue two people with minor injuries, officials said.
The National Weather Service reports a rainfall rate of 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) per hour, and in upmarket areas where roads wind along wooded hillsides dotted with large homes, it can rain overnight. Heavy rain is expected. Tucked between the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Montecito is home to celebrities such as Rob He Rowe, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Ellen DeGeneres shared instagram video Picture yourself standing in front of a raging stream near the house in Montecito where she lives with her wife, actor Portia de Rossi. In her post, she said she was told to evacuate in place as they were on higher ground.
“Crazy!” says the talk show host in a hoodie and raincoat in the video. “This creek next to our house never flows. It’s probably about nine feet up, plus he’ll go two feet up.”
Jamie MacLeod’s property was under an evacuation order in Montecito, but with rapids on one side and landslides on the other, she said there was no way to “get off the mountain.”Santa Barbara Bird The Sanctuary’s 60-year-old owner said one of his employees had come to his weekly food delivery and was stuck.
McLeod says he feels lucky that his home is on high ground and that he still has electricity. But she said she’s tired of repeated evacuation orders since deadly landslides followed a massive wildfire five years ago.
“It’s not easy to relocate,” says McLeod. “I totally love it, except for the catastrophe.”
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the decision to evacuate nearly 10,000 people was “based on continued high rainfall rates with no signs of changing by nightfall.” . Streams flooded and many roads were flooded.
The northbound lane of US 101, a major coastal route, was expected to remain closed until Tuesday. Many other highways and local roads were closed due to falling rocks and flooding.
Along the coast, an evacuation order has been issued in Santa Cruz County for approximately 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and streams. The San Lorenzo River was declared to be in flood stage, and drone footage showed numerous houses sitting in muddy brown water, with the top half of a car peering out.
Maria Cucchiara, who lives in tiny, waterlogged Felton, went for a walk to count her blessings after “a huge branch pierced” the roof of her tiny studio, she said.
“I have two kittens and they could have been killed. It was over a ton,” she said. “Needless to say, it was very disturbing.”
Nicole Martin, owner of Fern River Resort in Felton, described the more laid-back scene on Monday. Her clients sipped coffee among towering redwood trees and she “enjoyed the show,” she said.
According to Martin, the river is normally about 60 feet (18 meters) below the hut, but ran up to 12 feet (4 m) from the hut.
In Northern California, several districts closed schools and more than 35,000 customers in Sacramento remained without power. He was down from more than 350,000 the day before after 60 mph (97 km/h) gusts smashed majestic trees into power lines, according to the City of Sacramento’s Utility District. A homeless person killed by a fallen tree in the area was also among the new deaths announced Monday.
The US National Weather Service warned of a “constant parade of atmospheric rivers.” This means that a long plume of moisture can extend into the Pacific Ocean and bring in staggering amounts of rain and snow. Precipitation expected over the next few days comes after last week’s storms drained power, flooded streets and destroyed coastlines.
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency on Monday to support storm response and relief efforts in more than a dozen counties.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a flood warning for much of northern and central California, with 6 to 12 inches of rain expected by Wednesday in the already saturated foothills of the Sacramento area.
The Los Angeles area could see up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain in the foothills late Monday and Tuesday night. High waves were also expected.
Much of California has been hit by a severe drought, but storms are filling up depleted reservoirs.
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Associated Press journalists Janie Herr and Olga R. Rodriguez of San Francisco, Amy Tuxin of Orange County, Andrew Dalton of Los Angeles, Nick Cooley of Aptos, Martha Mendoza of Santa Cruz and Heaven Daily of Felton Contributed to this report.
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