“If you don’t believe in climate change, come to California. We’re living it,” Newsom said.
The majority of the damage is concentrated around the city of Santa Barbara, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Los Angeles, where the foothills slope steeply toward the Pacific Ocean.
In the Rancho Oso area of the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara, mud and debris across the road isolated about 400 people and 70 horses, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said on Twitter, posting a photo of a vehicle stuck in the mud .
Near the coast, the California Highway Patrol closed US 101, the main highway connecting northern and southern California, with no estimated time for reopening.
“Please stay home and if possible do not drive today,” the highway patrol advised on Twitter, posting pictures of landslides and fallen rock blocking the highway.
Flooding occurred in several communities, including Goleta, where a man rode through the streets on his paddleboard.
On Monday, officials ordered the evacuation of some 25,000 people, including the entire affluent enclave of Montecito near Santa Barbara, due to increased flood and landslide risks. The county sheriff’s department made the announcement, but evacuation orders in Santa Barbara County were lifted Tuesday afternoon.
South of Los Angeles, in the Chatsworth neighborhood, two vehicles fell into a sinkhole that opened under a street.
Flood waters hit the train station in downtown Los Angeles, submerging a walkway.