At least 17 people have been killed and a five-year-old boy remains missing as a series of extreme storms continue to batter California.
More lives have now been lost in the storms – which began hammering the state last week – than were caused by two years of wildfires.
Some 22 million people across California and parts of Oregon remain under a flood advisory, as the atmospheric river looks set to keep dumping heavy precipitation across the region.
The extreme weather saw the star-studded city of Montecito placed under an evacuation order and on Tuesday the whole of San Francisco was warned of flash flooding.
As conditions eased slightly, the search resumed on Tuesday for Kyle Doan, 5, who was swept away when his mother’s truck got stuck in a creek near Paso Robles. Low visibility forced emergency responders to postpone the search again on Tuesday afternoon.
More severe weather is forecast throughout the week, raising the potential for flooding, rising rivers, and mudslides on already saturated soils.
