- A massive storm struck Northern California this week, killing multiple residents.
- A 19-year-old teenager and a 2-year-old toddler died as a result of the storm.
A bomb cyclone, fueled by an "atmospheric river," pummeled northern California this week, causing flooding and high winds throughout the region.
At least two people in the San Francisco Bay area — a 19-year-old and a toddler — died due to Wednesday's storm, ABC7 reported.
According to poweroutage.us, at least 170,000 people across California were still without power as of Thursday morning.
Photos of the aftermath of Wednesday's storm, as well as a New Year's Eve storm that struck the same area, show flooded streets, sinkholes, and downed trees across northern California.
The ABC7 Storm Impact Scale categorized Wednesday's downpour as a level 5 storm, the first in the history of the scale.
ABC7 defines a level 5 as three or more inches of rain, including "extreme flooding, roads impassable, and power outages for several days." By Thursday, the storm had been downgraded to a level 3.
The storm brought devastation throughout Northern California.
CBS News Bay Area reported that wind gusts reached up to 60 mph in valleys and up to 80 mph in areas above 1,000 feet, causing large trees to topple across roads and homes.
In Sonoma County, according to ABC7, a two-and-a-half year-old toddler died when a tree fell onto their home Wednesday night. Firefighters were unable to revive the child at the scene.
And in Fairfield, California, about 47 miles north of San Francisco, ABC7 reported that a 19-year-old died while driving on a partially flooded road early Thursday morning.
Police told ABC7 that her car hydroplaned, causing her to lose control and crash into a utility pole. Police also said that the woman may have been going too fast for the conditions.
ABC7 reported that in Daly City, wind gusts were so strong that they knocked over the canopy above a gas station, crushing the gas pumps underneath.
Officials have warned that unfortunately, the bad weather isn't over.
Cindy Palmer, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, told SF Gate that the area is "going to stay wet."
"The storms are lined up right now. The Wednesday storm was one in a series," she told SF Gate. "It's a series of storms, one right after another, at least through the next seven days if not more than that."
Correction: January 6, 2023 — A previous version of this story said bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers are the same thing. Atmospheric rivers can fuel bomb cyclones. The story also conflated two storms that struck the same region. The two storms hit on New Years Eve and on January 4.