California flooding in pictures as ‘1 in 1000 year’ storm wreaks havoc

More than 300 mudslides in Los Angeles alone

Tuesday 06 February 2024 17:40 GMT

Toppled tree falls on roof of California house as state battles floods and landslides

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A historic storm has deluged California over the past three days, bringing record amounts of rainfall and hundreds of catastrophic mudslides.

The storm is a “1-in-1000 year” rainfall event with Los Angeles’ Westwood neighbourhood recording nearly 12 inches of rain in 24 hours, according to the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. The storm is the second major event in two weeks to strike the region, powered by an atmospheric river dragging in moisture from the ocean.

Some 307 landslides were reported in LA alone, the fire department said. At least three people were killed by falling trees as powerful winds reached hurricane force.

Forecasters predicted the rain will begin to ease later on Tuesday. However, the threat of flooding remains high as the ground is extremely saturated, the National Weather Service said.