California Flood Videos Show Devastating Effect of 'Unprecedented' Rainfall

Videos emerging from California show the widespread devastation caused by the latest storm to hit the state, with intense rainfall bringing severe flooding to many areas.

Flood warnings are in place for much of the coastal region stretching from San Luis Obispo down through Santa Maria and Santa Barbara, with a flash flood warning in place for Los Angeles and Burbank.

Meanwhile, the complete evacuation of Montecito, a coastal town known for its A-list celebrities—including Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey—was ordered on Monday by the local fire department.

Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres posted a video of herself near a fast-flowing stream of flood water beside her home in the town. "This is crazy," she said. "We're having unprecedented rain. This creek next to our house never flows—ever. It's probably about nine feet up and it's probably going to go another two feet up."

The Montecito Fire Department said the evacuation order had been given "due to threats to life safety caused by the ongoing storm", adding that those on high ground should shelter in place.

After suffering years of drought, California is being hit by a series of cyclones from the Pacific, which are combining with an "atmospheric river" that flows across the sea from the subtropics into the state, causing the intense and heavy rainfall.

In its latest update, the National Weather Service (NWS) said it was "the most impressive storm" since one around the same time in 2005. It added that between 5 and 10 inches of rain had already fallen on coastal regions, with 2-4 inches falling on flatter parts of the coast and valleys.

The latest storm to hit California has led to evacuation orders being given for parts of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, a town down the coast from Montecito. Shelter in place orders have been given for other areas affected by the flooding.

In clips posted on social media, flood waters in the street in Santa Barbara's east side reach up to the windows on cars, with one person spotted kayaking through the rain. In Ventura, video footage shows water in the street about a foot high, with buildings beginning to flood on the ground floor.

One video, recorded by a California Highway Patrol officer on Route 168 near Shaver Lake, to the northeast of Fresno, shows a massive rock slide from a nearby hillside onto the road. Meanwhile, footage of Highway 101—of which sections were shut by local authorities due to flooding—shows fast-flowing water running across the road.

In a clip of a daring rescue, members of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department rescue a person stranded in their car by intense floodwaters outside Santa Ynez. Emergency responders used an inflatable boat on a rope to save the person, whose pickup truck had become surrounded by rapidly-moving water.

"We need to be nicer to mother nature, because mother nature is not happy with us," DeGeneres said in her video message. "Let's all do our part. Stay safe everybody."

The storm is the latest in recent weeks to hit California, after a bomb cyclone led to intense rainfall on New Year's Eve. San Francisco and northern California were then the first part of the state to see another bomb cyclone—so called due to a rapid drop in pressure, which is able to bring strong winds and heavy rain—on January 4.

According to the NWS, the main axis of the atmospheric river—known colloquially as the Pineapple Express—has since shifted over Los Angeles County, which was earlier under a flash flood warning (though this has been scaled back to a flood warning as of 5.27 a.m. ET).

The surrounding areas have been the hardest hit by flooding. In San Luis Obispo County, one woman died on Monday after driving into a flooded road, and a 5-year-old boy is believed to have been swept away by floodwaters.

"All eyes now on round two of this storm which will enter [San Luis Obispo] county around dawn, [Santa Barbara] county mid morning, [Ventura] county mid to late morning and finally LA county late morning or early afternoon," the NWS said.

NWS meteorologists predict that it will be dry from Wednesday through the rest of the week. However, another storm is expected to move across California over the weekend, bringing yet more rainfall.

Want to know why heavy rainfall isn't enough to solve California's drought crisis? Check out Newsweek's in-depth explainer