California storm: Five-year-old boy swept away as residents told to fleeon January 10, 2023 at 9:14 am

People in California’s elite coastal enclave of Montecito have been ordered to evacuate amid a major storm putting most of the state under flood watch.

Heavy rain was lashing the community near Santa Barbara, home to celebrities such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – Harry and Meghan – and Oprah Winfrey.

Forecasters are warning state residents to brace for a “relentless parade of cyclones” over the next week.

The deluge has already claimed 12 lives and left thousands without power.

More than 100,000 people were still without power as of Monday afternoon.

Around 90% of Californians – some 34 million people in the most populous US state – were under flood watch, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We expect to see the worst of it still ahead of us,” Governor Gavin Newsom said at a news conference. “Don’t test fate.”

An order issued on Monday afternoon by the Montecito Fire Department directed residents of the town and nearby canyons: “Leave now!”

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that the decision to order an evacuation was “based on the continuing high rate of rainfall with no indication that that is going to change before nightfall”. Residents unable to flee are being told to move to their innermost room or high ground.

It is unclear if Prince Harry, who is currently promoting his memoir Spare, or his wife and children are currently in Montecito.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) reported that up to 8in (20cm) of rain had already fallen over 12 hours in the region.

Montecito is home to many Hollywood stars, including actor Rob Lowe, and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who posted a video from the banks of a flooded creek on Monday.

“This is crazy!” said the chat show host. “This creek next to our house never flows, ever. It’s probably about nine feet up and is going to go another two feet up.”

The evacuation comes on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide in Montecito that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes.

This new round of severe weather will bring heavy rain on already flooded rivers, damaging winds that are expected to topple trees and power lines, and heavy snow in the California mountains.

On Monday, authorities called off a search for a five-year-old boy. The boy and his mother were reportedly in a car that was swept into floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County.

The boy was said by his father to have been on his way to school, according to local media.

The NWS forecast the heaviest and most widespread rain would hit around Tuesday morning and afternoon. The agency has issued a flood warning in areas around Los Angeles, including Orange County and the San Bernardino County Mountains.

Other evacuations have been ordered by officials, including in areas downstream of reservoirs that could overflow.

The Sacramento Valley is also under a flood advisory. Schools in and around Sacramento have cancelled classes on Monday.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for California on Monday, which allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to provide disaster relief.

In the last week, California has experienced two overlapping weather phenomena – an atmospheric river, where an airborne stream of dense moisture flows in from the ocean, and a bomb cyclone, a storm with a rapid drop in pressure that creates an explosive effect.

Atmospheric rivers can cause extreme rainfall and floods. Bomb cyclones require a mix of high and low temperatures, rising and dropping air pressure, and moisture, often resulting in strong winds and severe storms.

Last week’s storms inflicted widespread damage in northern California and dumped record-breaking rain.

The storm damaged homes and businesses, and killed at least 12 people. Among the victims was a toddler who died after a redwood tree fell on a mobile home.

A woman who lived in a homeless encampment along the Sacramento River also died on Saturday when a tree branch fell on her tent.

Much of the area hit by heavy rain has been under extreme drought conditions. Last year, California capped how much water residents can use in an effort to conserve its depleting supply.

Despite the rain, much of the state remains under moderate to extreme drought warnings, according to the US Drought Monitor.

Experts have said that it would take many years of rain to reverse the two-decade drought that has hit the western US.