A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds.
The storm led to evacuation warnings for mudslides in the south, near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers. In addition, a fallen tree killed a man in San Diego Wednesday morning.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday also declared a state of emergency in six counties, including San Diego, to allow state assistance in storm response.
Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding and mudslides. Areas scorched by January’s wildfires were under evacuation warnings, and Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday they were going door to door to about 380 especially vulnerable homes to order residents to evacuate.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also issued an evacuation warning Wednesday morning for the community of Wrightwood, a mountain resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, due to potential debris flows from the storm.
Debris and mud were seen rushing down the road leading into Wrightwood in a social media video posted by county fire officials. Crews were working to evacuate some homes, the post said. County officials didn’t immediately return questions about the evacuation.