Monster storms that have killed three people while wreaking havoc in California will lash the state for a third day, forecasters warn.
The Pineapple Express, a weather system that lingers over much of the Sunshine State, arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday just in time for the Grammys.
Since then, the city has been inundated with 10 inches of rain — or 75 percent of annual rainfall in just five days, causing 120 mudslides Monday night.
Meanwhile, 130 miles of the coast in San Diego, roads turned into rivers and officials warned residents not to drive to work Tuesday morning.
Dramatic dashcam footage capturing the moment a white SUV flipped onto its roof on the 5 Freeway connecting Los Angeles to Brea shows why.
Roads have been flooded with mudslides and brown water in parts of the Sunshine State, including the Beverly Crest neighborhood (pictured)
Monster storms that killed three people while wreaking havoc in California will lash the state for a third day, forecasters warn
The Pineapple Express, a weather system that lingers over much of the Sunshine State, arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday just in time for the Grammys
Authorities warned people to remain on high alert and most of Southern California remained under a flood watch
The video, captured through a rain-battered lens, shows a vehicle in the far left lane aquaplanting before spinning out and shooting across the center divider.
Miraculously, no one was injured, even though the car ended up upside down, according to the California Highway Patrol.
However, three people have died due to severe weather conditions elsewhere in the state.
Two men were crushed Sunday by trees that toppled during high-speed winds in Carmichael, a Sacramento suburb, and Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County.
Police are also investigating the death of another man in Yuba City, about 100 miles northeast of San Francisco, who was found under a redwood tree in his yard.
In San Diego, the roads have turned into rivers
ABC10 has named the man as 82-year-old David Gomes.
The storm system continues to hover over much of Southern California and forecasters have warned it will likely persist into Wednesday.
According to aerial photos from the Pineapple Express, it has moved slightly east since Monday, meaning Santa Barbara’s star-studded neighborhoods, including Montecito, where Harry and Meghan live, are now safe from the worst of the rain.
However, forecasters say there will be intermittent showers and thunderstorms throughout Tuesday.
Most will cover the state with light to moderate rain, but there is still the threat of short, heavy rain showers that could bring up to an inch of rain per hour in many places.
Authorities warned people to remain on high alert and most of Southern California remained under a flood watch.
Swollen and fast-moving creeks and rivers “increase the risk of drowning and the need for rapid rescue operations,” the weather service said.
The current storm is the second atmospheric river-driven weather system to hit the state in recent days.
On Monday, Los Angeles was flooded with rain, sending mud and boulders rolling down hills dotted with multimillion-dollar homes as people living in homeless camps in many parts of the city scrambled to seek safety.
Near the Hollywood Hills, flooding carried mud, rocks and household items downhill through Studio City, city officials said.
Sixteen people were evacuated from nine buildings on a street in the Studio City neighborhood, where George Clooney lives with his wife Amal and their two children.
Roads turned into rivers in parts of Los Angeles and San Diego and officials warned residents not to drive to work Tuesday morning
Video shows a white SUV driving along the northbound highway near Whittier Boulevard on Sunday around 4 p.m
The storm tore through Northern California over the weekend, killing three people who were crushed by falling trees, before stalling to the south
The Pineapple Express storm system has wreaked havoc across the Sunshine State
“It looks like a river that has been here for years,” said Keki Mingus, whose neighbors’ homes were damaged. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Drake Livingston, who lives in the Beverly Crest neighborhood, was watching a movie around midnight when a friend warned him about flooding.
“We looked outside and there’s five feet of running water, and it’s starting to seep through the doors,” said Mr. Livingston, whose car was found covered in mud on Monday morning.
The danger had not yet passed despite an expected drop in rainfall, warned Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles.
“The ground is extremely saturated, oversaturated,” he said at a news conference Monday afternoon. ‘It can’t hold extra water before sliding.
“It won’t take much rain before more landslides, mudslides, rockslides and other debris flows occur.”
In LA, an evacuation order remained in effect for some residents of a canyon area scarred by a fire in 2022.
The area was at increased risk of mud and debris flows because the area was burned without brush and trees to hold it back, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said 1,000 firefighters had tackled more than 300 mudslides, in addition to more than 100 reports of flooding and rescues of motorists stranded in vehicles on flooded roads.
Shelters added beds for the city’s homeless population, which numbers nearly 75,000 people.
Last weekend the storm flooded the streets, downed trees and prompted water rescues in the San Francisco Bay area
Authorities warned people to remain on high alert and most of Southern California remained under a flood watch
“It won’t take much rain before more landslides, mudslides, rockslides and other debris flows occur,” meteorologist Ariel Cohen warned.
Floodwaters have inundated many California streets during three days of brutal storms
A view of the muddy road in the Beverly Crest neighborhood on Monday as atmospheric river storms hit Los Angeles, California
Motorists have been warned not to drive in Los Angeles because conditions are so dangerous
Roads are clogged with mud in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA
Crews have rescued people from fast-moving waters in several parts of Southern California, including 16 people and five cats in Los Angeles County alone, authorities said.
About an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles, two homeless people were rescued Monday after spending the night on a small island in San Bernardino’s Santa Ana River.
Last weekend the storm flooded the streets, downed trees and prompted water rescues in the San Francisco Bay area.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for most of coastal Southern California and on Monday President Joe Biden pledged to provide any necessary federal aid.
“We will get help as soon as you ask for it,” he told Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass by telephone.
