Around 25 million people in California are under a flood watch this weekend as the latest in a parade of deadly storms drenches the state. Several waterways have flooded, at least 19 people have died and thousands have been told to evacuate their homes.
In Montecito, a town 84 miles (135km) north-west of Los Angeles, locals say the rain aggravates their trauma. A mudslide here killed 23 people in 2018 and many are afraid it could happen again. Montecito creek became a violent, raging flow again this past week, prompting fire officials to issue a “Leave Now!” warning to the entire community, which includes some of California’s most famous residents such as Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The evacuation order in Montecito has been lifted, but residents remain on edge. And with so much of the land already saturated, the risk of flooding and landslides is very real.
The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, joined the volunteers filling sandbags in Santa Barbara. He says the area is a “hot spot” he’s concerned about in the coming days. “We’ve experienced some 24 trillion gallons of water falling on this state in the last 16 days in the middle of a mega drought,” Governor Newsom told the BBC. He says California needs to reimagine the way it manages water, because the infrastructure here was built for a time which no longer exists.
Californians are used to extreme weather - wildfires, drought and the threat of earthquakes, with many awaiting the “Big One” that so many experts predict. But the “storm parade” pummelling California is new. At least 19 people have died in these storms, which began in late December. A five-year-old boy is still missing after he was ripped from his mother’s arms in fast-moving flood water in central California, when they got trapped while driving to school.
In Northern California, vineyards are under water. In Capitola, the historic wharf has been destroyed and the beach town battered. In the storied Salinas Valley, the river is rising and threatening California’s famed agricultural heartland.
In California everyone is watching their phones, waiting to hear if they should evacuate and wondering where it might be safe to go if they do need to leave town.
Blimey, that’s shocking news from California - the Golden State … 
