WRIGHTWOOD, California (AP) — California, soaked from days of relentless rain and recovering from mudslides in mountain towns, was hit with another powerful storm Christmas Day that led to evacuation warnings and high surf advisories.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California issued an evacuation warning for Wrightwood, a mountain town about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, a day after rescuing people trapped in cars during a mudslide.
The National Weather Service said waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25 feet on Friday.
Statewide, more than 70,000 people were without power Thursday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.
A day ago, heavy rain and fierce winds were blamed for at least two deaths.
A major storm system moving toward the Midwest and Northeast was expected to interfere with travel, according to the National Weather Service.
A mix of freezing rain and sleet could create icy conditions in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Maryland. Forecasters warned heavy ice could cause outages. Snow was expected to blanket the Northeast early Friday.
Roads in the 5,000-resident California town of Wrightwood were covered in rocks, debris, and thick mud on Thursday. With power out, a gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors.
“It’s really a crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo.
Lopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard, but they decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday.
“We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights,” he said.
Davey Schneider hiked a mile and a half through rain and floodwater up to his shins from his Wrightwood residence on Wednesday to rescue cats from his grandfather’s house.
“I wanted to help them out because I wasn’t confident that they were going to live,” Schneider said Thursday. “Fortunately, they all lived. They’re all okay — just a little bit scared.”
Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.
“It could be a whole lot worse,” she said. “We’re here talking.”
With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick.
“We’re ready,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck at this point.”
A falling tree killed a San Diego man on Wednesday, news outlets reported. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.
Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The storms were the result of atmospheric rivers carrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week, many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches, with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.
More heavy snow was expected in the Sierra Nevada, where gusts created “near white-out conditions” and made mountain pass travel treacherous. Officials said there was a “high” avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect through Friday.
Ski resorts around Lake Tahoe recorded about 1 to 3 feet of snow overnight, said Tyler Salas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno. Forecasters expect to see up to another 3 feet of snow through Friday, Salas said. The area could see 45-mph gusts in low elevation areas and 100-mph winds along mountain ridges.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) declared emergencies in six counties to allow state assistance.
The state deployed resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.
