CNN
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Parts of Southern California will see persistent rain on Friday from an atmospheric river that could cause more flooding after causing serious damage to some roads.
The storm system brought 1 to 5 inches of rain to parts of the Southern California coast. More than 6 inches of rain fell in some areas Wednesday morning through Thursday night. Just days before the holiday weekend, flooding left some areas knee-deep in water, closed roads and put Ventura County communities under evacuation warnings.
Heavy rains pose a threat to California and the Southwest on Friday, although the worst impacts on atmospheric rivers occurred on Thursday.
Parts of Southern California will face a slight risk of Category 2 or 4 rainfall on Friday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. As the atmospheric river continues to move eastward Friday, parts of southern Arizona face the same threat of rainfall. Rainfall amounts of up to 2 inches are possible.
Flood watches are in effect through Friday night in several areas of Southern California and through Friday night in southern Arizona, according to the National Weather Service.
An extra inch of rain will fall in the Los Angeles area on Friday, but the threat of greater heavy rain will shift from the coast and inland areas east of the region’s mountains. The area experienced a period of heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms on Thursday.
In nearby Ventura County, a month’s worth of rain fell in an hour on Thursday morning in the downtown area of the coastal city of Oxnard, causing flooding, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
The weather service noted that the average rainfall for the entire month of December was 2.56 inches, providing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of 3.18 inches of rain falling in just one hour.
Flooding affected at least 60 homes in Ventura County, with Oxnard and Port Hueneme bearing the brunt, according to a county fire department spokesman.
At the height of the storm, more than 3 inches of rain fell per hour.Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy VanSciver said roads were flooded and vehicles were trapped in them explain.
VanSciver noted that flooding in parts of Ventura County was 2 to 3 feet deep. VanSciver said the county fire department received 275 calls in a five-hour period, a staggering increase from the 190 calls expected per day.
Severe flooding led Ventura County officials to issue evacuation warnings for parts of the county, officials said Thursday.
In Santa Barbara, heavy rainfall flooded parts of the road, causing the area’s Highway 101 ramp to close Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, thousands of people along the East Coast are still feeling the effects of a deadly storm that brought heavy rain and damaging winds to parts of the Northeast earlier this week, causing Roads were flooded and thousands were left without power due to the cold. Persevered.
As of early Friday, more than 45,000 homes and businesses in Maine were still without power, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us. Highs are expected to be in the 20s and lows in the 30s on Friday.
At least eight storm-related deaths were reported in multiple states, including four in Maine, officials said. Two people who went missing Monday after their vehicle was caught in rising floodwaters in a small town in Maine, Mexico, have been confirmed dead, police said in a statement Thursday.
CNN meteorologists Robert Shackelford, Mary Gilbert and Jillian Sykes contributed to this report.
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