California flooding: More storms forecast for weekend as experts warn heavy rain won’t fix drought

Death toll likely to rise in California as deluge and flash floods set to continue

Drone video of flooded Felton in Santa Cruz County

California is bracing for more extreme weather this weekend, when two more storms barrel into the state on Friday and over the weekend.

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain and flooding in the northern parts of the state on Saturday and into early Sunday morning, urging residents late on Thursday to “stay weather aware and prepare now”.

Since the start of the year, California has been hammered by a succession of storms with northwestern and central California already soaked by between 10 and 20 inches in the last two weeks alone.

While the heavy rain has started to raise reservoir levels, experts say it will take far more to reverse the effects of years of drought.

At least 18 people have now died in incidents linked to the extreme weather with the body of a 43-year-old woman discovered in a submerged vehicle in Sonoma County on Wednesday.

Near the city of Paso Robles, five-year-old Kyle Doan, swept away in the floodwaters when he and his mother Lindsey Doan got stuck in their car, is still missing.

Kyle’s father said that his wife unbuckled their son and the pair climbed out of the sinking car when it got stuck.

“He was calm. He was trying to say, ‘Stay calm, Mom,” he said. “She was doing her best.”

Key Points

• Drenching California storms put dent in drought
• New storm map shows more heavy rainfall for California
• Death toll climbs to 18 as woman’s body found in submerged car
• Parents describe horror of losing missing 5-year-old child Kyle Doan
• California suffers 955 mudslides and flash floods in two weeks as relentless storms continue

[11 January 2023 07:15 · Josh Marcus]

Senior found dead in boat in Morro Bay

A 78-year-old man was found dead inside a boat in Morro Bay on Tuesday, the Morro Bay Police Department told the San Luis Obispo, California, Tribune newspaper on Tuesday.

Officials encountered the man’s remains in a stored boat on Tuesday morning, and haven’t determine the cause of death.

Morro Bay was pounded by the atmospheric river that has brought storms across California, killing a woman in nearby Avila Beach on Monday when her car was overtaken by flood waters.

[11 January 2023 08:15 · Stuti Mishra]

Storm 'more intense' and stayed 'much longer', says fire department as more evacuations are ordered

More evacuations have been ordered in counties as the storm warning remains in Northern California after torrential downpours.

The Stanislaus County officials have ordered immediate evacuations for some residents in the Newman area of the San Joaquin River and east River Road amid warnings of further rains and high winds.

The California fire department has said the storm on Tuesday was different because 'it stayed much longer'.

"This storm was different from the standpoint that it was here much longer. It was more intense because of the prior storm, the ground was much more saturated, which led to a lot more flooding and a lot more rescues because of the ground saturation," said Barry Parker, division chief of the Ventura County Fire Department.

The latest Pacific storm unleashed torrential downpours and damaging winds in California, knocking out power and turning city streets into rivers as mudslides cut off highways and entire communities faced evacuation orders.

More than 33 million Californians were threatened by severe weather throughout the day as "heavy to excessive" rainfall was expected across the state.

The storms have killed at least 17 people since the start of the year, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

[11 January 2023 09:00 · Josh Marcus]

Australia struggles with floods of its own

Military helicopters airlifted hundreds of people from communities cut off by “once in a century” floods in Australia’s northwest after severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone, brought heavy rain to the area.

The crisis in the Kimberley — a sparsely populated area in Western Australia state about the size of California.

“People in the Kimberley are experiencing a one-in-100-year flood event, the worst flooding Western Australia has had in its history,” Western Australia Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said on Sunday morning.

Water covered some areas “as far as the eye could see”, he added.

Watch the full story via Independent TV.

[11 January 2023 09:15 · Stuti Mishra]

What is an atmospheric river?

The system swamping California is known as an “atmospheric river” - or a “river in the sky” - a band of water vapor that forms over the ocean and can be hundreds of miles wide.

Louise Boyle explains how the phenomenon operates and what it means for California.

[11 January 2023 10:00 · Josh Marcus]

Sinkholes, fallen trees and demolished piers: California storms devastation captured in dramatic images

The storms that have been pounding California since New Year’s show no sign of letting up.

“Just as the last episode of heavy precipitation across California is beginning to wind down early this morning, another energetic low pressure system is quickly gathering strength off the West Coast and heading once again toward California,” the National Weather Service announced on Tuesday. “In addition to being highly moisture-laden, this rapidly intensifying system is also packing some thunderstorms.”

At least 17 people have been killed in the extreme weather since late December, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

More details in our full story.

[11 January 2023 10:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Where are California’s extreme storms headed?

The next severe front will impact northern California and the Pacific Northwest from Wednesday.

It comes after days of heavy rain which left land waterlogged, adding to the risk of mudslides, particularly in the burn scars of wildfires where land is already destabilized. The heavy rain has also led to rapid water rises in rivers and streams across California and portions of far western Nevada.

Louise Boyle reports.

[11 January 2023 11:00 · Josh Marcus]

Will epic California storms be enough to end state’s drought?

An “atmospheric river” is drenching California with storms, bringing exceptionally high levels of precipitation across the golden state.

Thanks to a series of storms beginning in late December, areas of California have received 400 to 600 per cent of their normal rain levels, according to the National Weather Service. By early January, state scientists at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains were recording snows that were 177 per cent higher than average.

The intense weather has often proved catastrophic on the ground, causing flooding, downed trees, and mudslides that have killed at least 16 people and left roughly 224,000 people in the state without power, the Washington Post reports.

Despite all the destruction it has caused, will the atmospheric river end California’s historic drought, the worst in state history? Not quite, according to scientists.

[11 January 2023 11:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Inches of water pooled in LA streets on Monday

Streets flooded in several parts of Los Angeles on Monday night, with water threatening a homeless encampment at one intersection in Hollywood.

[11 January 2023 12:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Dramatic images of the California storms

With 90 per cent of the state under flood watch, here are some of the most striking photos and videos of the carnage in the Golden State.

[11 January 2023 12:30 · Rachel Sharp]

Caution: Big rock!

Malibu Public Safety warned drivers on Monday to beware of potentially dangerous obstructions on roads caused by landslides and rockfalls triggered by the excessive rainfall.

The agency posted photos of a large boulder that had crashed down onto Malibu Canyon Road blocking most of the roadway.