Widespread flash flooding and mudflows have hit Southern California after heavy rain, prompting evacuation orders and warnings for motorists to stay off roads, authorities said.
Emergency services carried out dozens of rescues after vehicles became trapped in floodwaters, particularly in the mountain resort town of Wrightwood, east of Los Angeles, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
No casualties had been reported by Wednesday night, fire department spokesman Christopher Prater said.
Officials issued flash-flood warnings across much of Los Angeles County, urging residents to avoid travel unless under evacuation orders or fleeing flooded areas.
Los Angeles city authorities ordered about 130 homes to evacuate in areas at high risk of mudslides and debris flows, particularly in parts of Pacific Palisades affected by last year’s wildfires.
The storm was driven by an atmospheric river, a narrow band of dense moisture drawn from the Pacific Ocean, producing rainfall of up to an inch (2.54cm) an hour in parts of the greater Los Angeles area, the U.S. National Weather Service said.
Forecasters warned that “life-threatening” conditions were expected to persist through Christmas Day, with unsafe driving conditions during what is typically a busy holiday travel period.
Strong winds accompanying the storm downed trees and power lines, while heavy snow was forecast at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
Meteorologists also issued a rare tornado warning for parts of east-central Los Angeles County amid severe thunderstorms over Alhambra.
Rainfall eased by Wednesday night, but forecasters said a second wave of the storm system was expected to move through the region on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran see...
North Korea has deployed troops, weapons and now, according to a Ukrainian intelligence official, a missile unit to support Russia's war against Ukrai...
Kazakhstan has begun building the Beineu-Saksaulsk highway, a new Middle Corridor link expected to shorten freight journeys between China and Europe b...
One hundred years after the First World War and more than eighty years after the devastation of the Second World War gave rise to the United Nations, humanity once again finds itself living in an age of permanent crisis.
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
For months, efforts to secure the Red Sea have focused on what is happening in the water. Naval deployments have increased, governments have expanded maritime cooperation and shipping companies have adapted to persistent security threats.
Greenland has issued a “strong warning” to a U.S. oil company linked to President Donald Trump after drilling equipment was brought ashore without the required government approvals, according to British media.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
Glacier coverage in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul Basin has shrunk by 33.7 per cent over the past 70–90 years, according to an updated glacier inventory by Kyrgyzhydromet. The agency says the pace of glacier retreat has accelerated sharply in recent years.
Extreme heat and historically low river levels are forcing nuclear power plants across Southeast Europe to reduce production, increasing pressure on already stretched electricity supplies and prompting governments to call for lower consumption.
Flash floods in Gansu Province in China's northwest last week killed 25 people and injured 23 more, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, raising earlier death tolls.
Three firefighters have died as wildfires continue to burn across Greece, with Crete facing a second day of intense blazes driven by strong winds. The fires come as Europe battles destructive wildfires fuelled by extreme heat and drought.
An impending "super" El Niño is likely to inflict a combined $10 billion to $20 billion hit on affected African countries and trigger mass migration from hard-hit areas, the African Development Bank's (AfDB) top climate expert said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment