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By Aleks Phillips
U.S. News Reporter
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Around 10 percent of the U.S. population was under a flood watch advisory on Monday due to the intense rainfall in California. According to CNN, more than 34 million residents, or around 90 percent of the state's population, had been warned of the risk of flooding.
Flood warnings remain in place for western Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County and Ventura County, according to the latest National Weather Service update. Advisories are also in place for Riverside and San Bernardino.
Earlier, a flash flood warning was in place for Los Angeles, which has now been changed to a flood warning, effective until 11 a.m. ET. The NWS said areas experiencing flooding include downtown L.A., Pasadena, Burbank, Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
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A second wave of the storm is expected to hit on Tuesday.
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The latest in a series of storms to hit the state from the Pacific on Monday brought between 5 and 10 inches of rain across those coastal regions facing flood warnings, the NWS said, with rain levels as high as 15.5 inches recorded locally.
As of Monday afternoon, the death toll in the winter storms rose to 14—more than had died due to wildfires in California in the past two years combined—after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said.
In an update on the situation in San Luis Obispo, County Administrative Officer Wade Horton said that one woman had died after driving into a flooded road on Avila Beach, on the San Luis Obispo Bay. A 5-year-old boy has been reported as having been swept away by floodwaters, though local police have yet to declare him dead.
In Santa Barbara County, 10,000 people have been ordered to evacuate "based on the continuing high rate of rainfall", Sheriff Bill Brown told the Associated Press.
Just after 11 p.m. ET, Santa Barbara county issued a shelter in place warning due to flooding. It tweeted earlier that public schools in the county would be closed on Tuesday, and said several highways had been closed due to debris flows and rock slides, as well as Santa Barbara airport.
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Evacuation orders have also been issued for around 32,000 people in Santa Cruz County, according to the Associated Press. Those living near rivers and creeks which are near to bursting their banks were told to leave.
The San Lorenzo river, which runs along Highway 9 into Santa Cruz, was declared as being at flood stage.
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The Montecito Fire Department said the evacuation order had been given "due to threats to life safety caused by the ongoing storm". The town is home to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as well as Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres—the latter of whom posted a video urging those on lower ground to flee for shelter.
The latest flooding to hit California comes after a series of powerful storms since New Year's Eve, which led California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday to ask the White House to declare an emergency in order to support response efforts. President Joe Biden approved this declaration late Sunday night, the White House said.
"We are in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms—and California is using every resource at its disposal to protect lives and limit damage," Newsom said in a statement. "We are taking the threat from these storms seriously, and want to make sure that Californians stay vigilant as more storms head our way."
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Newsom's office said 11 shelters had already been stood up for those escaping floodwaters, including four in Monterey and two in Sacramento. It said a further 20 were pre-staged and on standby.
Newsweek contacted the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services for comment and clarification on the number of evacuees across the entire state.
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