Southern California, Christmas
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California faces 'great danger'
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Chain controls are in effect on both Highway 50 and Interstate 80 in the Sierra. Drivers are being urged to avoid traveling up the mountain for the time being.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued "life-threatening" flash flood warnings for parts of Southern California. Follow Newsweek live.
A powerful atmospheric river storm has swept across California, forcing hundreds to evacuate their homes.According to Sky News, widespread flash flooding occurred on Christmas Eve in the south of the US state as a result of torrential rain.
There were more than two dozen outages as of the morning of Dec. 24. An outage map shows restorations are expected to occur throughout the day.
The winter storm that delivered measurable rain to Southern California will offer a brief break to some parts of the region overnight before ramping up again on Christmas Day.
The heaviest rainfall is likely to hit the region from Tuesday night into Wednesday, bringing the possibility of mudslides, debris flows and urban flooding.