California storms atmospheric river d6920af2dbaead274a30229cdbba7d97

Los Angeles records 475 mudslides during historic storm that has drenched Southern California

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It’s easy to forget that a river runs through the heart of Los Angeles. Normally flowing at a crawl, much of it through nondescript concrete channels, the Los Angeles River picks up speed during the rainy season.

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Residents in Northern California on Monday assessed damage from a powerful storm that downed trees, damaged homes, caused flooding and cut off power to residents. (Feb. 5) (AP Video: Terry Chea)

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A storm of historic proportions unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes, posing grave dangers to the city’s large homeless population and knocking out power for more than a million people in California. (Feb.5) (AP Video by Eugene Garcia and AP photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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A storm of historic proportions unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides. (Feb. 5) (AP video by Eugene Garcia)

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Workers survey a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

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Prentice Sinclair Smith a friend of home owner Dion Peronneau says she was awoken by the sound of cracking around 4 a.m. early morning Monday, as mudflow forced its way into her home in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed more than 300 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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A mudslide scarred hillside is shown in the backyard of a home, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. The mudslide occurred early Monday morning, Feb. 5. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Home owner Dion Peronneau recounts, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, how she was awoken by the sound of cracking around 4 a.m. Monday morning, Feb. 5, as a mudflow forced its way into her home early in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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A property sits destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

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City workers help to remove a eucalyptus tree that fell onto a house and over power lines along Bundy Drive in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed nearly 400 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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A grand piano lays upside down at a property destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

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City workers help to remove a eucalyptus tree that fell onto a house and over power lines along Bundy Drive in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed nearly 400 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Trucks drive down a flooded street, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Lakeside, Calif. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county including Lakeside. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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A couple walk in the rain with their dog along the Huntington Beach Pier on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Huntington Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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A geologist surveys a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

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Vehicles drive on California State Route 163 over a flooded street Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in San Diego. The National Weather Service issued a brief tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county. The warning was cancelled shortly after it was issued, with forecasters explaining that the storm no longer appeared capable of producing a twister even if it briefly turned some San Diego streets into rivers. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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Clouds form over downtown San Diego, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in San Diego. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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A gas station attendant walks past gas pumps on a flooded street, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Lakeside, Calif. A rare tornado warning was briefly issued for parts of San Diego County, including Lakeside. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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California Department of Corrections prisoners help sandbag homes along Gotera Drive in the Hacienda Heights section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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California Department of Corrections prisoners help sandbag homes along Gotera Drive in the Hacienda Heights section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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In this photo provided by Big Bear Mountain Resort, snow covers a number of tables at the resort in Big Bear Lake, Calif., Tuesday Feb. 6, 2024. The resort has received three feet of new snow over the last week, with some of the heaviest periods of snowfall occurring last night. (Big Bear Mountain Resort via AP)

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In this photo provided by Big Bear Mountain Resort, people are surrounded by snow while riding a lift in Big Bear Lake, Calif., Tuesday Feb. 6, 2024. The resort has received three feet of new snow over the last week, with some of the heaviest periods of snowfall occurring last night. (Big Bear Mountain Resort via AP)

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A man shields himself from the rain as he walks along the Huntington Beach Pier on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Huntington Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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A property sits destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

By STEFANIE DAZIO and JULIE WATSON

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed at least 475 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half the amount of rainfall the city typically gets in a season in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat was not over yet.

“Our hillsides are already saturated. So even not-very-heavy rains could still lead to additional mudslides,” Mayor Karen Bass said during an evening news conference. “Even when the rain stops, the ground may continue to shift.”

A storm of historic proportions has caused strong winds, flash floods and rainfall records across the state. Here’s what to know.

The slow-moving atmospheric river battering California is breaking records and has become one of the wettest storms in Southern California history. A breakdown of the storm, by the numbers.
The storm has unleashed nearly 400 mudslides in the Los Angeles area. What causes them?
The storm was the second in a week fueled by an atmospheric river. The weather phenomenon, explained.

Officials expressed relief that the storm hadn’t yet killed anyone or caused a major catastrophe in Los Angeles despite its size and intensity, with nearly 400 trees toppling. There were seven deaths reported elsewhere, including several people crushed by fallen trees in Northern California. Someone trying to enter the United States was swept up by a swollen Tijuana River channel and died early Tuesday as the California-Mexico border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Though the rain was tapering off, forecasters extended a flood watch through early Wednesday, warning the ground was too filled with water to hold much more after back-to-back atmospheric rivers walloped California in less than a week. Another heavy burst of rain is expected Wednesday evening before the region begins to dry out, said Tyler Kranz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Two vehicles, one towing a trailer, sit in the rocks on the bank of a swollen Cajon Creek near Devore, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, after being swept away in the floodwaters the night before. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP)

Mud and debris is strewn on Fryman Rd. during a rain storm, Monday Feb. 5, 2024, in Studio City Calif. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers took aim at Southern California, unleashing mudslides, flooding roadways and knocking out power as the soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) — Mud and debris is strewn on Fryman Rd. during a rain storm, Monday Feb. 5, 2024, in Studio City Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Bass said the city is now looking toward recovery and will seek federal aid including emergency vouchers for homeless people in shelters. It may see if it can qualify for FEMA money to help people whose homes were damaged in hillside communities where insurance companies won’t cover. How many they are could take a while to count.

As of Tuesday, seven buildings had been deemed uninhabitable, officials said. Another 10 buildings were yellow-tagged, meaning residents could go back to get their belongings but could not stay there because of the damage.

“Hopefully no more homes will be damaged, but it’s too early to tell,” Bass said.

RELATED COVERAGE

A couple walks on the edge of the Los Angeles River, carrying stormwater downstream Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers battered California, flooding roadways and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and prompting a rare warning for hurricane-force winds as the state braced for what could be days of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Historic rains fueled by ‘Pineapple Express’ threaten to overflow Los Angeles River

This GOES-West GeoColor composite satellite image taken at 5:30 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 31 2024, and provided by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows a storm moving over California and the Western U.S. (NOAA via AP)

What’s an atmospheric river? A pineapple express? AP explains

A firefighter walks past vehicles submerged by a mudslide Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Record-setting storm that killed 3 dumps rain on Los Angeles; flash flood alerts still in effect

Dion Peronneau was trying to get her artwork and books out of her home, which was smashed into by a mudslide that knocked her sliding glass doors off their frame and came pouring into her home of 25 years.

“Eight feet of mud is pressed up against my window that is no longer there,” she said. “They put up boards to make sure no more mud can come in.”

Earlier Tuesday the National Weather Service issued a rare tornado warning for San Diego County. The warning was quickly cancelled, however, with forecasters explaining that the storm no longer appeared capable of producing a twister even if it briefly turned some San Diego streets into rivers.

Four people were killed in Northern California after the storm came ashore over the weekend with strong winds that toppled trees. They included a 63-year-old woman who was found dead Tuesday under a large tree in her backyard in Fair Oaks, Sacramento County officials reported.

The California Highway Patrol said a 69-year-old man died Monday after his truck went down an embankment and filled with water in Yucaipa, about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. Another accident in nearby Fontana killed a 23-year-old man after the car he was in crashed into a tow truck in the rain, the agency said.

An SUV sits buried by a mudslide, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. A storm of historic proportions unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, endangering the city's large homeless population, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes and knocking out power for more than a million people in California. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) — An SUV sits buried by a mudslide, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Jeffrey Raines clears debris from a mudslide at his parent's home during a rainstorm, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers took aim at Southern California, unleashing mudslides, flooding roadways and knocking out power as the soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) — Jeffrey Raines clears debris from a mudslide at his parent's home during a rainstorm, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The storm smashed or approached many rain and wind records across the state, with downtown Los Angeles recording its third-wettest two-day stretch since recordkeeping began in the 1870s. Between 6 and 12 inches (15.2 and 30.5 centimeters) of rain fell over the Los Angeles area.

All the water brought one silver lining: helping to boost often-strained water supplies, just two years after nearly all California was plagued by a devastating drought. Marty Adams, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said more than 1 billion gallons of rain were captured for groundwater and local supplies.

This latest storms follow a string of atmospheric rivers that pummeled the state last year, leading to at least 20 deaths.

In 2018, a mudslide in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, destroyed 130 homes and killed 23 people, making it one of the deadliest in California history.

Crews rescued people from swift-moving water in various parts of Southern California, including 16 people and five cats in Los Angeles County alone, authorities said. About an hour’s drive east in San Bernardino, two homeless people were rescued Monday after spending the night on a small island in the Santa Ana River, and three others were helped after they climbed into a tree above raging floodwaters that submerged their vehicle.

Riverside County Firefighters use a crane on a ladder truck to rescue people who became stranded on a small island in the middle of the Santa Ana River near Van Buren Street in Riverside, Calif., when the river waters rose due to rain on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP)

Crews clean up the street in the 6900 block of E Deleon Street after a tree fell on a car during the storm in Long Beach, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. A powerful storm fueled by an atmospheric river is pounding Southern California, causing widespread flooding, turning hillsides into rivers of mud, knocking out power to many and leading to evacuation orders in some areas.(Brittany Murray/The Orange County Register via AP) — Crews clean up the street in the 6900 block of E Deleon Street after a tree fell on a car during the storm in Long Beach, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (Brittany Murray/The Orange County Register via AP)

Authorities also reported several spills of raw sewage into the Pacific and closed affected beaches.

Near the Hollywood Hills, dotted with multimillion-dollar homes, floodwaters carried mud, rocks and household objects downhill through Studio City, officials said. Sixteen people were evacuated, and several homes were severely damaged.

The phenomenon known as El Nino is expected to bring additional storms to California this year, caused by the temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide.

Many businesses said they will be feeling the effects of a sales downturn long after the storm has gone.

People walk in the rain as a storm moves through with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background near Sausalito, Calif., Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. In Northern California, the storm inundated streets and brought down trees and electrical lines Sunday throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds topped 60 mph (96 kph) in some areas. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) — People walk in the rain as a storm moves through with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background near Sausalito, Calif., Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

At The Flowerman in Pasadena, florist and owner Lou Quismorio said that this close to Valentine’s Day, he would typically have a “pretty crowded store.” He hopes customers return with the sun.

“I can’t really worry about it,” he said. “I’ve got over 8,500 roses in my cooler right now.”

In San Diego, Sabrina Biddle was cleaning up after a few leaks in her dance studio.

“Back to dancing, no more storm,” she said.

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Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber, John Antczak and Damian Dovarganes in Los Angeles contributed.

STEFANIE DAZIO

Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles.

JULIE WATSON

Watson covers immigration, US-Mexico border issues and the environment, and helps direct coverage of California and Nevada for The Associated Press. She’s reported from Mexico, Central and South America, and was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Los Angeles records 475 mudslides during historic storm that has drenched Southern California

Los Angeles records 475 mudslides during historic storm that has drenched Southern California

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