Millions in Southern California face threat of flooding that could disrupt travel ahead of holiday weekend | CNN

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An atmospheric river continued to bring heavy rainfall to Southern California on Thursday, flooding roads and prompting evacuations ahead of the holiday weekend.

An atmospheric river brought more than 4 inches of rain to parts of the region from Tuesday night into early Thursday. The heaviest rainfall will continue into Thursday night, with more than 2 inches per hour causing flash flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

Heavy rain caused flooding in Ventura County early Thursday morning, and parts of the county were not under evacuation warnings until noon Friday, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.

Oxnard, the county’s largest city, received more than 2.5 inches of rain in just a few hours early Thursday morning. The catastrophic flooding marked the city’s first rainfall event to occur once in at least 500 years.

At least 60 homes were affected by flooding in Ventura County on Thursday, officials said.

Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy VanSciver said in a statement that the county fire department received 275 calls in five hours, which was much higher than the 190 calls the department received in 24 hours. Average. Video statement about X.

VanSciver said department staff had to prioritize calls based on severity, and at one point there were 90 calls waiting to be handled.

Roads were flooded and some vehicles were stranded, requiring 12 rapid water rescues, he added.

To the west, heavy rainfall also flooded some roads in Santa Barbara. Multiple ramps to the Highway 101 area were closed Thursday morning due to flooding. California Department of Transportation.

Rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches are possible across much of Southern California, with an additional 5 to 10 inches possible in and below south-facing foothills and coastal slopes, according to the weather service.

A flood watch remains in effect through Thursday night for parts of the Los Angeles area, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.In addition to ongoing flooding in Santa Barbara, urban flash flooding is also occurring This may be the case at lower elevations near the Los Angeles Basin.

Some of these floods are expected to be severe and potentially life-threatening, with massive road flooding, rock and debris flows, debris flows near recent burn scars and severe creek flooding possible on Thursday. The meteorological department issued a warning.

Parts of Southern California, including the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, are also facing a moderate risk of excess rainfall Thursday, at a Category 3 or 4 level.

A few rumblings of thunder are also possible Thursday amid heavy rain in Southern California, but the storm is unlikely to become severe.

A small tornado did briefly touch parts of Northern California earlier this week, a relatively rare event for the state this time of year.

An EF-1 tornado was reported Tuesday night in Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, causing damage to trees and small structures, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

The tornado struck the ground between 5:40 and 5:42 pm PT, and no injuries were reported. According to the Storm Prediction Center, California sees one tornado on average in December.

Extreme weather has also hit the opposite coast this week, with parts of the Northeast battered by torrential rain and devastating flooding.

More than 130,000 electricity customers in Maine have been without power since Monday, with temperatures plunging to near or below freezing in much of the state.

Vanessa Corson, public information officer for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement to CNN that the concern today is the drop in temperatures, which creates challenges for those who have been without power for days.

Corson added that stronger wind gusts continued to affect Maine on Thursday and could slow or hinder power restoration efforts.

Dozens of roads remain closed or partially closed across the state as storms earlier in the week downed trees and power lines.

This story has been updated with more.

CNN’s Holly Yan and Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.