Flash flood warnings were issued on Saturday as vital routes were closed
The second in a string of powerful storms battered California on Saturday, shutting key motorways after water and mud rushed into lanes from bare hillsides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders.
Flash flood warnings were issued for huge swathes of Southern California and forecasters said the system will bring several inches of rain at lower elevations and heavy snow in the mountains.
A wind gust in Santa Barbara County topped 80mph (128kph) as the storm moved south and later dropped more than a half-inch (1.27cm) of rain in five minutes. Trees and power lines were down across the region.
In the Montecito area of Santa Barbara County, several miles of US 101, a vital route between Los Angeles and points north and west, were closed because of flooding.
Elsewhere in the county, evacuations were ordered or recommended for neighbourhoods near the Thomas, Whittier and Sherpa fire scars.
“This is a dangerous situation,” the National Weather Service said, warning that the high rates of rain could send boulders sluicing down denuded hillsides along with the mud and debris.
It has only been a little over a year since a downpour on the huge Thomas Fire burn scar unleashed a massive debris flow that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the seaside community of Montecito.
