California Storm Live Updates: Evacuations Ordered as Mudslide and Flood Risks Grow

Thousands of residents were told to leave their homes as heavy rain caused flooding in parts of California. Relentless storms have killed at least 17 people since late December.

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1. ChatsworthLos Angeles City Fire Department
2. MercedNoah Berger/Associated Press
3. SacramentoCA – DWR via Storyful
4. ChatsworthMark Abramson for The New York Times
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15. Ventura CountyVentura County Fire Department via Storyful
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Victoria Kim, Soumya Karlamangla and Jill Cowan

More heavy rain is expected. Here’s the latest.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Relentless rains that started falling on Sunday have flooded parts of Los Angeles and led to evacuation orders for nearly 50,000 residents across California as rivers continue to rise and mudslide fears grow. At least 17 people have died since late December, when storms started pounding the state.

Here’s what to know:

• Rescuers continued searching on Tuesday for a 5-year-old boy who was pulled from his mother’s arms and swept away by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County the day before. The boy, Kyle Doan, was on the way to his first day of kindergarten after the holiday break. Read an interview with his father.
• Many residents began to return home on Tuesday after evacuations were ordered on Monday for residents in Montecito in Santa Barbara County and parts of Santa Cruz County, about 70 miles south of San Francisco, as creeks and rivers topped their banks, threatened homes and washed away at least one bridge. Read about the damage on the battered California coast.
• San Francisco and other parts of Northern California saw hail and lightning storms on Tuesday, and forecasters warned that wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour and possibly even tornadoes could accompany the heavy rain. Experts say the cost of the damage done by the storms could top $1 billion.
• Looking ahead, seven more inches of rain could fall in many parts of California over the next several days, as yet another “enormous cyclone” that is forming off the coast slams areas of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday, the Weather Service said. Here’s how climate change is shaping California’s stormy weather.

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