Atmospheric river causes flooding and landslides in California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fed up with the wet winter, Southern Californians were hit hard Wednesday by the 11th atmospheric river tail of the season, flooding roads, causing landslides and downing trees across the State. .

Water flooded the roads, while rocks and mud blocked other roads, and there were several reports of vehicles damaged by potholes. Flooding forced the closure of several miles of freeway from the Pacific Coast to Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles and the Orange County coast.

Three clifftop apartment buildings were evacuated due to a landslide in their backyards on the San Clemente coast, the Orange County Fire Authority said. Residents of a nearby building were also evacuated as the severity of the landslide was being assessed.

Orange County had already declared a local emergency after a hill collapsed March 3 in Newport Beach, leaving a home uninhabitable and several others at risk.

Across the state, more than 143,000 customers were still without power Wednesday afternoon, according to the specialized site poweroutage.us.

Governor Gavin Newsom studied flood damage in the Central Coast agricultural region and noted that California could receive a 12th atmospheric river next week.

“Look back: In recent years, the state has gone from fire to ice with no mild period in between,” the Democrat said, describing a “climate boost” in a state that quickly went from a extreme drought and forest fires to an overwhelming amount of snow and rain.

“If anyone has any doubts about Mother Nature and her fury, if anyone has any doubts about what this is all about in terms of the climate and the changes we are going through, come to California,” the governor said. .

California’s most recent atmospheric river was one of two storm systems to hit the United States this week. Parts of New England and New York were emerging from a storm Wednesday that battered the northeast coast, causing widespread power outages, school cancellations and snowy road conditions.

The remaining showers in Southern California are expected to ease Wednesday evening as the storm moves into parts of the Great Basin. The weather service said California would see minor rainfall this weekend, followed by another major storm next week.

Downtown Los Angeles has racked up just under two feet (60 centimeters) of rain so far this year, the 14th wettest in more than 140 years of records, according to the National Weather Service.