California braces for flooding and avalanche risk during strong storms

Key Highlights

• illiam Liang/APRoads in the 5,000-resident town of Wrightwood were covered in rocks, debris and thick mud on Thursday.
• With power out, a gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors.“It’s really a crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo. One dead in California floods as state braces for brutal week of Christmas storms Read moreLopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard, but they decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday.
• Lopiccolo got a new snowboard and e-bike.“We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights,” he said. Davey Schneider hiked a mile and a half (1.6km) through rain and flood water up to his shins from his Wrightwood residence on Wednesday to rescue cats from his grandfather’s house.“I wanted to help them out because I wasn’t confident that they were going to live,” Schneider said on Thursday.
• “Fortunately, they all lived.
• They’re all OK – just a little bit scared.”Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.“It could be a whole lot worse,” she said.