Storm knocks out power, floods roads in California

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers churned slowly through California early Monday, flooding roadways and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and prompting a rare warning for hurricane-force winds as the already soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains.

The storm inundated streets and brought down trees and electrical lines Sunday across the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds topped 96 kilometers per hour in some areas. Gusts exceeding 128 kph were recorded in the mountains.

Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car stranded by floodwaters and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river.

The storm then moved into Southern California, where officials warned of potentially devastating flooding and ordered evacuations for canyons that burned in recent wildfires that are at high risk for mud and debris flows.

Classes were canceled Monday for schools across Santa Barbara County, which was devastated by mudslides caused by powerful storms in 2018.

Further down the coast, strong winds and heavy rain brought treacherous conditions to the city of Ventura, said Alexis Herrera, who was trying to bail out his sedan which was filled with floodwater. “All the freeways are flooded around here,” Herrera said in Spanish. “I don’t know how I’m going to move my car.”

More than 845,000 customers were without electricity statewide by Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

Winds caused hours-long delays at San Francisco International Airport. By 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 155 departing flights were delayed and 69 had been canceled, according to the tracking website FlightAware. There were also delays at the airports in San Jose and Sacramento.

Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort about 320 kilometers northeast of San Francisco, said Sunday it was anticipating the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of six inches per hour for a total of up to two feet.

Heavy snow was expected into Monday throughout the Sierra Nevada and motorists were urged to avoid mountain roads.

AP Waves crash over a breakwater in Alameda, California with the San Francisco skyline in the background on Sunday. High winds and heavy rainfall are impacting the region. Inset shows workers clearing a tree that fell onto a home during heavy wind and rain in San Jose, California.