Misery in California as the city is hammered by storms and floods
Mass electricity outages, flooding, and the shutdowns of both motorways and beaches impact California as a rare winter storm whips the US state.
Nearly 120,000 people – many in the Los Angeles region – are without power after days of extreme winds.
The major north-south motorway on the West Coast, Interstate 5, remains closed in the mountainous area known as the Grapevine.
Winter storm hammers California:
Due to weakening, the cyclone is one of the strongest to hammer the state. Severe winds have overturned trees and downed power lines.
On Saturday, the authorities said all shores were shut for hours due to LA County’s lightning strikes.
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There were even reports of jets grounded in the region.
The National Weather Service (NWS) forewarned of heavy showers and thunderstorms over Southern California in its publication just after 20:00 GMT on Saturday (noon local time).
“As the front moves inland, snow will roll over the Northern Intermountain Region and into Northern California on Sunday morning,” the NWS stated.
Citizens of the state capital of Sacramento have been cautioned to avoid travel from Sunday to Wednesday with precipitation and snow starting up again.
In Oregon, California’s northern neighbour, a state of emergency was announced in one county as protection. The authorities said this would ensure the required help and equipment could be quickly provided if later asked.
