California storm: Possible tornado hit state while Los Angeles was under flash flood warnings
Risk of mudslides remained high
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Flash flood warnings were announced in parts of California early on Thursday amid reports of a possible tornado in the southern half of the state.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms were expected to continue Thursday with widespread flooding risk including in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pomona, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
A possible tornado was reported overnight in Grover Beach, southern California after warnings were issued late Wednesday.
The threat of mudslides remains high from the storm, which unleashed historic amounts of rain this week, leaving the ground saturated.
At least nine people have been killed from falling trees, car crashes, and being swept away in raging waters.
Community organisers told The Independent on Wednesday that Los Angeles’ storm response for the city’s large homeless population was “abysmal” and accused authorities of telling “bold-faced-lies”.
Residents in Los Angeles County to experience rain from 6pm
Residents in Los Angeles County should prepare for rain starting at 6pm through midnight as rainfall moves south from San Luis Obispo County.
Officials worried death toll could increase once water recedes
Officials are concerned the death toll could increase once water in Los Angeles County recedes. However, that could take days, according to the Los Angeles Times, as rainfall is expected to persist through Wednesday.
So far, the death toll is nine.
Three were killed in vehicle collisions in the Bay area. Another fatality was caused by a vehicle being swept away in a flood channel. An individual died while trying to cross the US-Mexico border across the Tijuana River.
A Los Angeles school is set to reopen after it was closed due to heavy rainfall.
Officials announced that Topanga Elementary Charter School will reopen following heavy rainfall this week. The Los Angeles Unified School District confirmed the news in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
The campus will be open from 7.30am. Parents and guardians should call the school if they have any questions. Another Los Angeles school, Vinedale College Prepatory Academy closed this week due to weather conditions but reopened on Wednesday.
In pictures: LA’s unhoused community struggles with severe weather
Watch: Community organisers cut up tarps for ‘storm kits’ for unhoused community
Unhoused community members worried to compete for limited housing space during storms
Community organiser Carla Orendorff told The Independent that there were around 10,000 unhoused people in the area of San Fernando valley alone and that the idea of competing with others for such limited space was heartbreaking for some.
One individual, she said, had told her: “I don’t have a chance and honestly getting my hopes up that way would kill me.”
On Wednesday, the LA Mayor’s office said that Los Angeles Homeless Services Association (LAHSA) had activated six additional shelters for people experiencing homelessness “in addition to the seven previously established winter shelters”.
An exact number of additional beds was not given.
California residents survey damage caused by historic storms: ‘We were in shock’
Firefighters responded to a heavy debris flow in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles on Sunday night, evacuating seven homes.
Residents told Mike Bedigan they had ‘not even remotely had anything like this before’. Read the full story here:
California residents survey damage caused by historic storms: ‘We were in shock’
Firefighters responded to a heavy debris flow in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles on Sunday night, evacuating seven homes. Residents tell Mike Bedigan they had ‘not even remotely had anything like this before’
Is it time for a Cat 6?
A handful of super powerful tropical storms in the last decade and the prospect of more to come has a couple of experts proposing a new category of whopper hurricanes: Category 6.
Studies have shown that the strongest tropical storms are getting more intense because of climate change. So the traditional five-category Saffir-Simpson scale, developed more than 50 years ago, may not show the true power of the most muscular storms, two climate scientists suggest in a Monday study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They propose a sixth category for storms with winds that exceed 192 miles per hour (309 kilometers per hour). The Associated Press
As warming stokes storms, some want a bigger hurricane category
A handful of super powerful tropical cyclones in the last decade has a couple of experts proposing a new category of whopper hurricanes: Category 6
Millions of gallons of raw sewage spills into Pacific after heaving flooding in California
Five million gallons of raw sewage has spilled into the Pacific ocean as a result of heavy flooding caused by the ongoing storms in California, according to officials.
On Monday, Long Beach City Health Officer, Dr Anissa Davis, ordered all recreational swimming areas temporarily closed for water contact due to two separate sewage spills.
According to a press release from the City of Long Beach, approximately five million gallons of sewage was discharged, the majority of which entered the Dominguez Channel leading into the Port of Long Beach.
Sewage had also leaked into the Compton Creek leading to the Los Angeles River, the release added.
In addition to the spill in Rancho Dominguez – located between Compton and Long Beach – another 40,000 gallons of sewage were reported to have spilled in the City of Commerce. Mike Bedigan reports.
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