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.
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Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched two ballistic missile attacks against a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days.
Wildfires have broken out in Türkiye’s Antalya province, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate as strong winds fuelled the flames.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Increasingly intense wildfires and heat waves are threatening global efforts to improve air quality and protect public health, the United Nations’ weather agency has warned.
Vast flocks of storks passed through Türkiye and the Bosporus this week as part of their annual autumn migration from European breeding grounds toward Africa and the Middle East.
China's coastal areas and southern regions are preparing for days of intense precipitation, with tens of thousands of people evacuated as Typhoon Narra tracks inland and another storm churns toward the country's eastern seaboard.
A wildfire in Croatia driven by strong winds descended on the tourist town of Omis overnight, engulfing houses, forcing about 1,000 people to evacuate to safety and injuring dozens, fire brigade and health officials said on Friday.
Rhossi, a rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle that washed up near death on a Welsh beach in 2023, has returned to Texas after more than two years of rehabilitation in the UK.
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