California is facing severe weather conditions as a result of a series of torrential rains and high winds that have caused widespread flooding, power outages, and landslides.
Bringing the death toll to 14, a five-year-old child was swept away by floodwaters while on the way to school with his mother in a truck, the search for the child was called off when it became too dangerous for divers.
Among the victims was a toddler who was killed by a redwood tree falling on a mobile home.
With more storms expected, Homes were flooded, streets were turned into rivers, and cars were swamped by the deluge. Tens of thousands remain without power, many of them in Santa Clara County south of San Francisco.
Residents of the elite coastal enclave of Montecito were among those ordered to evacuate immediately.
Flash Flood Warning including Santa Maria CA, Santa Barbara CA and San Luis Obispo CA until 12:00 AM PST pic.twitter.com/5WR9Qq4ziG
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 10, 2023
The state is under a federal state of emergency, with the National Weather Service warning of further potential dangers including “torrential rain, widespread flooding, rapid water rises, mudslides, and landslides with possible debris flows, heavy mountain snow, and gusty high winds.”
The University of California Santa Barbara has canceled classes due to the extreme weather conditions in the area, and President Joe Biden has declared a federal emergency to aid California.
Governor Gavin Newsom has urged residents to take caution and not to “test fate.”
Despite the rain, much of the state remains under moderate to extreme drought warnings, according to the US Drought Monitor.