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LOS ANGELES (AP) - A strong storm battered Southern California on Monday, causing widespread flooding, turning hillsides into rivers of mud and rocks, leaving thousands without electricity, and prompting authorities to order evacuations in some areas.
About 1.4 million people in the Los Angeles area, including Hollywood Hills and Beverly Hills, received warnings for possible flash floods on Monday morning. Up to 23 centimeters (9 inches) of rain have already fallen in the area, with more expected, according to the National Weather Service, which described the possibility of flash floods and landslides as "a particularly dangerous situation."
A text message on Sunday night alerted Keki Mingus, who lives in the Studio City area of Los Angeles, that a neighbor's house at the top of a hill was in trouble.
"Mud, rocks, and water ran through his house and another neighbor's house down to our street," Mingus recounted as the water continued to flow down the street on Monday morning. "I can't believe it. It looks like a river that's been there for years. I've never seen anything like this."
In downtown Los Angeles, 10.41 centimeters (4.1 inches) of rain fell on Sunday, a record amount well above the previous record of 6.48 centimeters (2.55 inches) set in 1927, according to the Weather Service. Sunday also marked the third-highest precipitation day for February in that area and ties as the 10th highest precipitation day since records began in 1877.
In Northern California, the storm flooded streets and knocked down trees and power lines throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, where winds reached 96 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour). In the mountains, winds of 128 km/h (80 mph) were recorded.
Just south of San Jose, rescue teams removed occupants from a vehicle stranded by floods and rescued people from a homeless camp along a swollen river.
In Yuba City, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of San Francisco, police said they were investigating the death of a man found under a fallen tree on Sunday afternoon. A neighbor heard the tree fall, and the man may have been using a ladder to try to remove the tree when it fell on him, police said on Facebook.
The storm then moved to Southern California, where authorities warned of the possibility of floods and ordered evacuations in valleys that were recently burned in wildfires and where there is a risk of mudslides and debris flows.
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