Man drowns in Redding floodwaters as heavy rain heads toward SoCal

"At least one person drowned in Redding on Sunday amid heavy rainfall and flooding in Northern California. Redding Mayor Mike Littau described a harrowing overnight scene on flooded Highway 273, where a man was trapped in a vehicle as water poured in. Facing violent storms, first responders could not reach the man before his emergency call disconnected. "The phone died," Littau wrote on Facebook. "A Redding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled [the] victim to shore." The officer attempted CPR,"

"As much as 20 inches of rain deluged other areas of Northern California over the weekend, with the Plumas National Forest east of Chico recording more than 12 inches Sunday. Further south, flooding near Cisco Grove east of Lake Tahoe prompted evacuation warnings along Hampshire Rocks Road as the Yuba River surged. Placer County sheriff's deputies rescued nine people from a riverside home there Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported."

A convergence of gusty winds and heavy rainfall produced localized deluges across Northern California, dropping more than five inches in parts of Shasta County and up to 20 inches elsewhere. Floodwaters overwhelmed infrastructure and inundated streets in Redding and other communities, prompting evacuations and sheltering orders. Emergency crews conducted multiple rescues, including nine people saved from a riverside home east of Lake Tahoe, though at least one trapped motorist in Redding later died despite rescue efforts and CPR. Transportation authorities warned conditions could worsen quickly and urged people not to drive through floodwater and to evacuate or shelter in place.

Read at Los Angeles Times