Flash floods swamp Northern California roads, one killed

Heavy rain and flash flooding inundated roads across Northern California, prompting multiple water rescues from vehicles and homes and resulting in at least one confirmed fatality.

In Redding, located at the northern end of the state’s Central Valley, a motorist died after calling emergency services while trapped inside a vehicle that was rapidly filling with water, per US media.

Mayor Mike Littau said the victim contacted 911 during the incident. Police reported receiving numerous calls from drivers stranded in flooded streets.

“Redding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled the victim to shore. CPR was done but the person did not live,” Littau wrote in an online post.

According to the National Weather Service, the Redding area recorded between 3 and 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimetres) of rainfall from Saturday through Sunday night. While scattered showers persisted into Monday, several local roads remained underwater as municipal crews worked to remove debris and tow abandoned vehicles.

Residents surveyed the damage as floodwaters receded. Dekoda Cruz waded through knee-deep muddy water to check on a friend’s tyre business, where the office was strewn with furniture and floating tyres.

City officials warned that more hazardous weather could arrive in the coming days. In preparation for the next storm system, Redding distributed free sandbags to residents.

Forecasters said rain is expected to continue through the Christmas week as a series of atmospheric rivers move across Northern California. A large portion of the Sacramento Valley and nearby areas remained under a flood watch through Friday.

An atmospheric river is a long, narrow corridor of concentrated moisture that forms over oceans and transports water vapour from the tropics to higher latitudes. Meteorologists warned that the pattern is likely to intensify by midweek, increasing the risk of mudslides, rockslides, and flooding of creeks and streams. Parts of the Sierra Nevada could see up to 6 feet (1.83 meters) of snow, while wind gusts at higher elevations may reach 55 mph (90 kph) by Wednesday. Travel through mountain passes on Christmas Day was described as “difficult to near impossible.”

Southern California is also expected to face a wet holiday. Portions of Los Angeles, including neighbourhoods affected by burn scars from the deadly Palisades fire, will be under evacuation warnings starting December 23. The weather service urged residents to make contingency plans for holiday travel.

Earlier this month, persistent atmospheric rivers drenched Washington with nearly 5 trillion gallons (19 trillion litres) of rain in a single week, threatening record flood levels. Meteorologists said that the event was intensified by unusually warm air and complex weather patterns linked as far back as a tropical cyclone near Indonesia.

By Tamilla Hasanova