California is no stranger to winter storms bringing rain and snow – particularly in the mountains – but this season has been unusual for the sheer number of them battering this state in quick succession.

In Ventura County in southern California, emergency service workers are using a blue rope to help a man hoist himself free of the knee-deep, cement-like mud.

“I hadn’t expected it to be so deep but these kind folks helped me out,” says Ray, a prospector, whose trade is to search for mineral deposits in the land.

He has lived in the mountain community along the Ventura River for 25 years.

“The biggest danger is too much water for the ground to soak up. You’ve got huge rock mountains everywhere, the water just piles up, and when it does, this is where it comes,” he says, pointing to vast piles of sludge and rocks on the river bank.

He has been assessing the damage of this latest deluge. “I study the weather for my local area a lot and it seems like it’s going to get worse,” Ray says. “Storms like this will become the norm. Mother Nature is probably pretty mad at us given that we’ve polluted and destroyed our environment beyond all belief.”

For the past fortnight, this vast state has been hit by unrelenting extreme weather, killing at least 17 people, flooding homes and businesses and wiping out major roads. Seeing the swollen creeks and rivers, it is difficult to believe California is also in the grip of several years of drought.

Read more
Sinkholes swallow cars as torrential rain batters California
Joe Biden declares emergency in California after ‘bomb cyclone’

Tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders, including residents of the super-wealthy enclave of Montecito, home to Prince Harry and Meghan as well as Gwyneth Paltrow.

The talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, who has an estate in the town, posted a video of herself in front of a raging creek, which she says is usually dry. “We need to be nicer to Mother Nature,” she implored, “because Mother Nature is not happy with us.”

All the major roads into Montecito from the south were closed because of flooding, fallen trees or mudslides. In the village of Casitas Springs, a man named Jason, in his pick-up truck, is trying to reach his home a quarter of a mile up a flooded road.

“I’m trying to get to my neighbour who was bitten by a dog,” he says. “They only have a small car so are stuck up there and we need to get him to hospital.

“We’re trying to get home too, because we’ve got animals there who were alone overnight because we couldn’t get back. There’ve been storms that have been bad before, but not for a while.”

In San Francisco, they have just experienced the wettest 10-day period in more than 150 years. Seven more inches of rain could fall in many parts of California over the next several days as what meteorologists say is an “enormous cyclone” forms off the coast.

It means that for some already soaked parts of this state, the worst may yet be to come.

Related posts:

Meeting with the Queen at Windsor Castle will be ‘huge honour’ for Biden ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic should have been given shorter prison sentence, appeals court rules At least two people killed in plane crash near San Diego as homes engulfed in flames US to reopen land borders to fully vaccinated travellers next month Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs storms into £3bn Chelsea FC auction Boat belonging to sailor last seen in US seven months ago washes up in Europe White House aide’s astonishing testimony may help January 6th committee resonate with the public Ticket-holder wins jackpot of nearly $1.3bn in US Mega Millions lottery ‘Trailblazing’ actress who played Lt Uhura in Star Trek dies ‘We have forgiven him’: US murderer executed despite plea from victim’s family to save him California becomes second US state in three days to declare state of emergency over monkeypox spread Donald Trump’s casting as an arch-villain over Capitol riots is bad for his political comeback