SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The storm that pummeled much of California for three days began moving east Thursday after causing at least six deaths, forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes and plunging nearly 300,000 utility customers into darkness.
The winter storm is forecast to unleash heavy rain, snow and wind in Colorado and “will be slamming the East Coast by Sunday,” National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said. “From Maine to Florida.”
Anderson said most of California should be dry and sunny by Friday.
The three-day drenching put a dent in California’s drought, dumping as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in parts of Southern California, and between 3 and 6 inches (7.6 and 15 centimeters) in Los Angeles. Government and university researchers who maintain the U.S. Drought Monitor map now classify most of the state as abnormally dry or in moderate drought. Only about 6 percent is in severe or extreme drought, compared to nearly a quarter of the state last September.
Rain and snow fell from one end of the state to the other, canceling flights, uprooting trees, knocking down power lines and causing localized flooding.
In Malibu, a boulder hit a 57-year-old woman while she was hiking Thursday. She was in critical condition Thursday night.
In Riverside County, firefighters rescued 12 homeless people stranded on an island in the Santa Ana River bottom, while 25 other transients were evacuated from the river banks. Farther upstream in San Bernardino, firefighters rescued one person trapped on an island while a second was able to swim to shore.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department posted a dramatic video on Twitter showing the helicopter rescue of a person caught in the rising San Gabriel River.
Also in Los Angeles, about 20 residents were evacuated from their homes in the Hollywood Hills when mud slid from beneath a house. No one was hurt and the residents were allowed to return home several hours later.
In Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, 4,500 gallons (17,000 liters) of sewage flowed into the Ventura River when an RV park became flooded. Health officials urged people in the area to avoid touching any storm runoff or ocean water for several days.
In San Francisco, fallen trees blocked the city’s iconic cable car tracks for hours Thursday and similarly delayed other commuter trains in region.
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