California officials are urging holiday travelers to avoid the roads on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A series of powerful winter storms is expected to douse California with relentless rain, heavy winds, and snow this week. Much of the state will see heavy rains and gusts that could lead to flooding, mudslides and rock slides. The Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area are under flood and high wind warnings through Friday. The Sierra Nevada will see heavy snow and strong winds, making travel nearly impossible. Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about mudslides and debris flows. Some 380 particularly vulnerable households were ordered to leave.
A provincial emergency service spokesperson says a massive cloudburst triggered flash floods in northwestern Pakistan and has killed at least 157 people, including women and children. Mohammad Suhail told The Associated Press on Friday that dozens of people were still missing, and rescue operations were underway. He said 78 bodies were recovered from various parts of Buner district by midday Friday, and another 79 were pulled from the rubble of collapsed homes and flooded villages later. The latest fatalities bring the total number of rain-related deaths to 556 since June 26, according to disaster management officials.
By GEORGE WALKER IV and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press
Parts of the Midwest and South are facing the possibility torrential rains and life-threatening flash floods. The fresh storms on Friday come as many communities are still reeling from severe tornadoes that destroyed whole neighborhoods and killed at least seven people. Kentucky's governor said floodwaters swept away and killed a boy Friday in his state. Forecasters warned of catastrophic weather on the way, with satellite imagery showing thunderstorms lining up like freight trains. Those who died in the initial wave of storms on Wednesday and early Thursday were in Tennessee, Indiana and Missouri. Forecasters say it was the opening act for days of wild weather that could bring flash floods across the nation's midsection.
It's been a wild week of weather in many parts of the United States. Millions of people are enduring dangerous heat and humidity in the Midwest, while an Alaska landslide killed one man and a woman died in a Grand Canyon National Park flash flood. Additionally, Hawaii was pounded with rain from Tropical Storm Hone and mountains in the West saw early-season snow.
The remnants of Debby are racing northward, lashing rain, flash flooding and threatening tornadoes in the Northeast. Some of the heaviest flooding on Friday was in western New York, where two communities and part of a third were under evacuation orders. Debby is now a post-tropical cyclone which could cause dangerous flooding from New York and Pennsylvania through New England into the weekend. First responders launched rescues in a rural part of upstate New York on Friday afternoon as floodwaters made multiple roads impassable. Rain was starting to fall in Vermont where residents were gearing up for the storms after recent devastating flooding.
