A Caltrans worker directs traffic around a flooded roadway Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Mill Valley, Calif. The most powerful El Nino storm yet this week pushed onto the California coast Wednesday. Driving rain inundated the San…
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The first in the line of storms also drenched the desert Southwest on Tuesday and was aiming for the Gulf Coast, but should weaken to no more than a couple inches of rainfall by the time it reaches the Southeast, Masters added.
As steady and sometimes heavy rains fell across Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti urged people to clear gutters and anything in their yards that might clog storm drains, and to stockpile sandbags if their home is susceptible to flooding.
Motorists in mountain areas are warned that blizzard conditions are possible above 4,000 feet – including several inches of snow and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.
Damaging surf was possible from Ventura County south to Orange County, with waves topping 10 feet.
And rains hit several areas hard late Wednesday night.
Voluntary evacuation advisories in some burn areas in danger of mudslides were cancelled. No injuries or serious damages were reported.
So the 61-year-old corporate auditor grabbed a sledgehammer and waded through the muck in his Monrovia backyard to knock a hole in a cement wall and let a mud flow skirt his house and run into a street. A wildfire two years ago stripped away vegetation and loosened soil, and he feared the strong storms could bring it all down.
That eased his mind somewhat, but he said he and his wife were vigilantly watching forecasts of more rain.
“We’re not going to charge them with things”, he said.
The California Highway Patrol estimated there were almost two dozen weather-related crashes on Wednesday during the morning drive. Officials shut down the city’s iconic cable cars, and buses were used to serve riders.
The National Weather Service issued flash-flood watches for many California communities ahead of the storm. That falls short of Browns 25 percent conservation mandate for a second straight month, although board chairwoman Felicia Marcus said the state remains on track to meet his overall goal.The fact that per-person water use dropped to 75 gallons per person per day on average is proof that Californians are clearly thinking twice before turning on the tap, Marcus said in a statement.
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The El Nino effect is triggered when winds in the pacific weaken or reverse its direction, thereby resulting in a warming up of the ocean waters in the central and eastern pacific region, especially along the equator.
