Another storm batters California amid flooding and evacuations

California is preparing for a final round of storms that are expected to bring more rain and snow to the state. 

Rain and snow were expected Monday overnight and into early Tuesday morning in parts of the state.  

So far at least 19 people have died due to weather-related incidents. 

There is some relief for Californians however, as the weather should improve this week. But many areas are still currently at risk of floods and landslides. 

California has been battered over the past few weeks, with flooding and forced evacuations, and landslides and sinkholes appearing. 

The weekend saw one to three feet of snowfall in parts of California’s Sierra Nevada. 

As of Monday, eight million people remain under flood watch on California’s central coast and more than 38,600 customers in the state remain without power, according to poweroutage.us. 

‘Heavy snow will continue into Monday’ 

The Sacramento office of the National Weather Service (NWS) said that “periods of moderate to heavy snow will continue into Monday”.

In Southern California, heavy rain is forecast throughout Monday and into early Tuesday. 

Gov Gavin Newsom told Californians to remain vigilant and exercise “common sense over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours”.

The NWS says the sun will start shining on Tuesday but there will still be wet weather in some areas into Wednesday and Thursday. 

California storms ‘once in a generation’ 

A major disaster was declared in California on Saturday by President Biden. The scale of damage caused by a once-in-a-generation deadly “parade of storms” has started becoming clear in California.

So far, at least 19 people have been killed – and a five-year-old boy remains missing after being swept away in the floods. 

Between 26 December and 9 January, parts of the state saw up to six times more rain than usual, according to the NWS.