FORT BRAGG, Calif. One person was killed, a 5-year-old boy is missing and more than 7 million people in the Los Angeles area were under a flash flood warning Monday when a «cyclone parade» hit California.
In Avila Beach, about 180 miles north of Los Angeles, one person was killed when a vehicle was struck by water, said Anita Konopa, an official with the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services. Another agency official, Scott Jalbert, initially said two people had been killed.
In the northern section of the county, near Paso Robles, floodwaters inundated a vehicle traveling in a low creek bed, Jalbert said. An adult was rescued, but a child was swept away, he said.
A team from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office called off their search Monday afternoon because weather conditions were «too extreme,» spokesman Tony Coppola said.
“We are seeing our streams and rivers flow like they haven’t in decades,” Jalbert said. «So they’re pretty monstrous.»
In Southern California, a massive stretch of Southern California, including Los Angeles, Malibu, El Monte and Santa Clarita, was under a flash flood warning until midnight. said the National Weather Service.
The area, with a population of 7.7 million, covers 1,521 schools and 91 hospitals, the service said.
In Santa Barbara County, all residents of the Montecito community were ordered to evacuate Monday afternoon «based on the continued high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall,» the county said. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. Heavy rains in the area, home to 10,000 people, flooded roads and streams, he said.
The flooding came five years after heavy rains tore through a «burn scar» of Montecito, killing nearly two dozen people.
Two «significant episodes» of heavy rain and snowfall were expected in the mountains in quick succession, with multiple cyclones approaching the state, the National Weather Service warned.
Two of the «most energetic and moisture-laden cyclone parades» were «aiming directly at California,» he said.
rain totals
As of Monday afternoon, more than 10 inches of rain had fallen in the previous 24 hours in Bonny Doon, just north of Santa Cruz. according to the National Weather Service.
Between 3 and 5 inches were recorded over a wide swath of the central and northern California coast, from Hearst Castle in San Luis Obispo County to Redwood City, just south of San Francisco, the agency said.
A second episode is expected Tuesday, which will result in slightly smaller amounts, but will affect areas further south in Southern California, he said.
The cumulative effect of the rain is expected to cause flooding, including «rapid rises in water, landslides and the possibility of major river flooding,» it warned.
The California Highway Patrol in Santa Cruz warned of multiple road closures Monday, including a mudslide that blocked Highway 17 south of Glenwood Drive.
The Montrose Search and Rescue team worked with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office overnight to rescue a group of hikers who became trapped between two floodwater river crossings Sunday night. Five children and three adults were brought to safety.
Problems with power lines and weather prevented a helicopter rescue, but two members of the sheriff’s office were able to access the canyon to help hikers.
“After some recent recoveries from tragic deaths, this rescue of eight came at the perfect time, reminding us why we volunteered to do this,” Montrose Rescue Team. he said on Instagram on Monday.
On Monday, seven people were rescued from a river in Ventura County, a spokesman for the county fire department said. Video published by the agency. it showed a man climbing a ladder onto what appeared to be the roof of a house.