"Atmospheric River Lashes California With Heavy Rain And Wind"

"A firehose of rain has parked over Southern California, worsening the risk of flooding. At least two people have died as a result of falling trees and more than 16 million people are under a rare high risk of excessive rainfall, with downtown Los Angeles receiving 75% of its annual rainfall in only the second month of 2024.

The storm is impacting travel and power in the Golden State. The Pacific Coast Highway, a major north-south thoroughfare, closed in two locations on Monday, as thousands of flights in or out of the state were canceled or delayed. More than 200,000 California power customers are facing outages.

Scientists are pointing to two factors that are enhancing the rainfall and destructive power of this week’s storm: the climate crisis and El Niño."

Mary Gilbert, Antoinette Radford, Eric Zerkel, Elise Hammond, Zoe Sottile, Amir Vera, Kathleen Magramo and Deva Lee report for CNN February 6, 2024.

SEE ALSO:

"Biden Promises Aid to California After Mudslides and Power Outages" (New York Times)

"State Of Emergency As Deadly Storm Pummels California With 160-Mph Winds And Flooding" (AccuWeather)

"Live Updates: Southern California Ravaged By Flooding, Mudslides" (KTLA)

"3 Dead As Storm Pummels California, Causing Flooding And Dozens Of Mudslides In L.A. Area" (NBC News)