USA: Deadly storm slams Southern California

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USA: Deadly storm slams Southern California

19/02/2017 2:00am

Torrential downpours were inundating Southern California on Friday, flooding streets and prompting water rescues. Officials said at least two people had died in the storm. One was found in a vehicle that was under water.

Here are the latest developments from one of the worst storms in the area in recent memory:

A motorist in Victorville was found dead when San Bernardino County firefighters searched a submerged car. The department didn’t give any details about the victim.
Eight people were rescued when 10 vehicles got stuck on a road in Sun Valley. No one was injured, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
In just four hours, beginning at noon, the fire department responded to 150 calls of downed power lines.
It was snowing heavily at higher elevations. “Chains required in all mountain areas. Unknown duration,” tweeted the California Department of Transportation office for Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The National Weather Service in San Diego said a “severe squall line” was moving through Orange County and was approaching San Diego County. One wind gust was 75 mph.
Duarte, a city northeast of Los Angeles, said residents of 200 homes were under a mandatory evacuation order.
The Ventura County sheriff’s air unit said that it has rescued three people who had been trapped on an island in a river. A helicopter crew was still searching for a missing person, it said on Twitter.
More than 470 flights that originated at Los Angeles International Airport or were due to land there had been delayed and more than 130 were canceled, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.com.
At least one person has died, officials said. The 55-year-old man was electrocuted after a power line fell Friday afternoon in Van Nuys, Los Angeles police Officer Drake Madison said.
Santa Barbara Airport has one closed runway. “The main airfield is under water and is closed for commercial activity,” director Hazel Johns said. Runway 7 has 6 to 9 inches of water on it. Some employees were prevented from getting to work by road closures. The terminal is above the flood, Johns said.
More than 116,000 customers in Southern California had lost power as of about 6 p.m. PT, officials said.
A tweet from the Cleveland National Forest account showed an SUV with water almost up to the top of the rear wheel well. “The OC/Trabuco area is already experiencing some flooding. Be careful when driving and stay off the roads, if possible,” the agency wrote.

– CNN.com has ongoing coverage here with more news and video

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