More than 1,500 people evacuated when California river breaches levee

First responders and the California national guard rescued more than 50 people overnight. One video showed a member of the guard helping a driver out of a car trapped by water up to their waists.

The Pajaro River separates the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey in the area that flooded Saturday.

Officials had been working along the levee in the hopes of shoring it up when it was breached early Saturday morning. Crews began working to fix the levee around daybreak Saturday as residents slept in evacuation centers.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has declared emergencies in 34 counties in recent weeks, and the Biden administration approved a presidential disaster declaration for some on Friday morning, a move that will bring more federal assistance.

The snowpack at high elevations is so massive it was expected to be able to absorb the rain, but snow below 4,000ft (1,219 m) could start to melt, potentially contributing to flooding, forecasters said.

State transportation officials said Friday they removed so much snow from the roadways in February that it would be enough to fill the iconic Rose Bowl stadium 100 times.

Forecasters warned that mountain travel could be difficult to impossible during the latest storm. At high elevations, the storm was predicted to dump heavy snow, as much as 8ft (2.4 m) over several days.

Yet another atmospheric river is already in the forecast for early next week. State climatologist Michael Anderson said a third appeared to be taking shape over the Pacific and possibly a fourth.