California storms: Biden declares major disaster as more flooding forecast

Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in California following devastating winter storms leading to flooding and mudslides and the deaths of at least 19 people.

On Saturday, Biden ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in areas affected by storms since late December.

Storms and flooding were expected to continue into Monday, the National Weather Service warned on Sunday. Starting on Tuesday, dry days were expected.

Flood warnings were issued for the region north of San Francisco Bay, including Marin, Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

To the south, warnings were posted for counties including San Mateo and Santa Cruz, where the tiny community of Felton Grove along the San Lorenzo river was ordered to evacuate. An evacuation order was also issued for residents of the Wilton area in semi-rural south-eastern Sacramento county. Authorities cited the threat of flooding from the Cosumnes river.

The swollen Salinas river swamped farmland in Monterey county. To the east, flood warnings were in effect for Merced county in the agricultural Central Valley, where the governor, Gavin Newsom, visited to take stock of the situation.

Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow regions in the atmosphere that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The rivers move with the weather and carry water vapor equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi. When the rivers make landfall, they usually release vapor as rain and snow.

On Saturday, the University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported that it received 21.3in (54cm) of snow in the last 24 hours.

Compared to Saturday morning, when more than 68,000 customers were without power across the state, 21,000 customers were experiencing power outages as of Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

With at least 19 people killed, Newsom urged Californians to stay safe.

At least three people have been killed by falling trees while others were overtaken by powerful floodwaters or found dead in or near vehicles.

Search and rescue operations by national guard troops and law enforcement were under way in central California after a five-year old boy was swept away by floodwaters near the small village of San Miguel.

Last Monday morning, Kyle Doan was in a car with his mother, Lindsy Doan, on their way to school when they were overpowered by floodwaters. The two exited the car together before strong currents pulled Kyle away from his mother as she was forced underwater.