REDDING, Calif. (AP) — Heavy rain and flash flooding soaked roads in northern California, leading to water rescues from vehicles and homes and at least one confirmed death, authorities said Monday.
In Redding, police said they received numerous calls for stranded drivers on Sunday who tried to drive through flooded areas. One motorist in Redding died after calling 911 while trapped in their vehicle as it filled up with water, Mayor Mike Littau posted online Monday.
The phone call ended abruptly, the mayor wrote. “Redding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled victim to shore. CPR was done but the person did not live.”
The cause of death was under investigation.
“We had several acts of heroism by first responders,” Littau added.
Between 3 and 6 inches (7.6 centimeters and 15.2 centimeters) had fallen by Sunday night in parts of two counties, the National Weather Service said.
Redding, a city of about 93,000 people at the northern end of the Central Valley surrounded by forested mountains, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) north of Sacramento.
In the mountain pass area of Donner Summit, firefighters in Truckee extended a ladder to stranded residents at a house along the South Yuba River, the fire department posted online Sunday. No injuries were reported.
The weather service office in Sacramento had said a series of warm atmospheric rivers would bring moderate to heavy rain to the Valley, foothills, and mountains the week of Christmas.
Littau said the city of Redding is “very concerned” about rain Tuesday to Friday “having a bigger impact of what we experienced last night.”
Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky, transporting moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.
Earlier this month, stubborn atmospheric rivers that drenched Washington state with nearly 5 trillion gallons (19 trillion liters) of rain in a week, threatening record flood levels, meteorologists said. That rainfall was supercharged by warm weather and air plus unusual weather conditions tracing back as far as a tropical cyclone in Indonesia.