Landslides buried cars and houses up to their windows. California Mountain Town as a powerful storm system brought the wettest Christmas in decades to the southern part of the state.
About 12 inches of rain fell in the area Wednesday, causing flooding and washed out roads, according to the National Weather Service.
Local authorities issued an evacuation warning in Wrightwood, California, a city of just under 5,000 people located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, as images showed mud and debris engulfing homes and vehicles. San Bernardino County Fire Department on Thursday evening said that one person was injured as a result of the descent, but weather conditions were expected to improve and there would be no ongoing threat to safety.
The city remained under an evacuation warning Friday morning, with some nearby roads closed, according to the county's emergency services system.
The storms, driven by atmospheric rivers carrying plumes of moisture from the tropics, hit during one of the busiest weeks of the year. The huge rainfall was also in stark contrast to last winter, when extremely dry year created conditions for the rapid spread of destructive forest fires across the region.
The system made downtown Los Angeles the wettest Christmas season in 54 years, according to the National Weather Service.
Minimum three people were killed as the storms began earlier this week. A motorist has died in the northern California city of Redding. after getting stuck in his car during a flood. Further south, Sacramento Sheriff's Deputy. died in a crash that appeared to be weather related. And in San Diego a man was reportedly killed by a falling tree.
In Wrightwood, the storm knocked out power and left a gas station and cafe running on generators and serving as a service center for residents and visitors.
“It's a really crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who spent the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson Hunter Lopiccolo.
Lopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the day before when water washed away part of their backyard, but they decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday. Lopiccolo received a new snowboard and electric bike.
“We just played cards all night with candles and flashlights,” he said.
Davey Schneider walked a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) through rain and shin-deep floodwater from his Wrightwood residence Wednesday to rescue cats from his grandfather's home.
“I wanted to help them because I wasn’t sure they would survive,” Schneider said Thursday. “Luckily they all survived. They're fine, just a little scared.”
Arlene Korte said roads in the city turned into rivers, but her home was not damaged.
“It could have been a lot worse,” she said. “We're talking here.”
More than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area because of the approaching rain, said Sean Millerick, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
“We're ready,” he said. “Everything is ready for now.”
Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood warnings were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
Southern California typically gets 1.3 to 2.5 inches of rain this time of year, but many areas are getting 4 to 8 inches this week, with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.
High winds and heavy snow were expected in the Sierra Nevada, where gusts created “near whiteout conditions” and made travel through mountain passes dangerous.
Governor Gavin Newsome declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow government assistance.
The state sent resources and first responders to several coastal and southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.
