Photos From Cities Across California Show The Damage And Debris From The Ongoing Storms

Two storm-related fatalities have been reported since Wednesday, including a 19-year-old woman and a toddler.

By
Steffi Cao
by Steffi Cao

BuzzFeed News Reporter

Pounding rain and wind have continued to wreak havoc across Northern California, as the area continues to be inundated by a round of atmospheric rivers, as well as a a rapidly rotating storm system known as a bomb cyclone. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and mobilized the California National Guard to support disaster response. Evacuation orders have been issued, the BBC reported on Friday. Two fatalities have been reported since Wednesday, including a 19-year-old woman whose car skidded off a flooding road and a toddler who died after a redwood tree fell on top of him.

The National Weather Service tweeted that more storms are expected to power through the area, lasting until Tuesday, and possibly with even more force. Here are some of the pictures that capture the damage so far:

Capitola, California

Fallen tables and chairs outside a restaurant.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Chairs and tables sit in front of a restaurant in Capitola, California, on January 6, 2023, following a massive storm. A powerful storm pounded the West Coast this week, uprooting trees and cutting power for tens of thousands on the heels of record rainfall over the weekend. Another is set to hit Northern California over the weekend and to bring flooding rains to the region.

Colorful houses surrounded by debris.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Debris is seen on January 6, 2023, scattered on a deck outside of a restaurant in Capitola, California, following a massive storm that hit the area.

In the distance, a broken bridge, with more damage from the storm surrounding it.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

A view of the Capitola Wharf in Capitola, California, on January 6, 2023, which was damaged by large waves following a massive storm

A woman stands outside low bungalows, holding a guitar, a sweatshirt, and a frame.
Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Minna Lantis salvages a guitar signed by dozens of musicians from The Sand Bar, the restaurant she owns with Jeff Lantis in Capitola, California, after waves of seawater and debris battered the place. When Lantis went inside on the morning of January 5, 2023, to check the damage, waves were still pounding it and pushing up from beneath. "The floor literally went up like you're on a trampoline," Lantis said.

San Francisco, California

Staff members in high visibility wear haul branches onto a truck.
China News Service / China News Service via Getty Images

Staff members clean up trees toppled by a storm on January 5, 2023, in San Francisco, California.

A toppled gas station.
China News Service / China News Service via Getty Images

The canopy of a Valero gas station rests on the ground after being toppled by a storm on January 5, 2023, in San Francisco, California.

Pacifica, California

Three people pushing metal in the water.
Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Work crews clear debris from a flooded Clarendon Road in Pacifica, Calif., in the wake of the recent storms, on Thursday morning, January 5, 2023.

San Jose, California

A woman looks around her tent.
Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Paola Rodriguez, who has been living in a tent along Coyote Creek near Tully Road in San Jose, California, for the past four months, tries to decide what to bring when she evacuates to a nearby library, on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

A topshot of a car driving through deep muddy water.
Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images

A vehicle drives on a flooded road in Sebastopol, California, on January 5, 2023.

The storm also impacted large swaths of other parts of the state, even with southern areas like Los Angeles seeing severe weather and rainfall. Mayor Karen Bass posted photos on Twitter of crews who were tending to vital or damaged areas of the city.

Los Angeles, California

A man running from a large wave crash by the sea.
Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Slade Watson, 15, from Hermosa Beach, runs as waves come crashing over the breakwall of Redondo Beach Harbor, where kids played in the spray of giant waves on January 5, 2023, in the wake of a storm.

Cars on the highway with billboard reading "Severe weather avoid travel until Thur night."
David Mcnew / Getty Images

Motorists on the State Route 2 (SR 2) freeway in Los Angeles, California, are warned of severe weather and to avoid travel as a powerful storm slams into the West Coast on January 5, 2023. The recent storms have prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency.


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