Winter storm inundates California with heady rain, mudslides and whiteout chaos

World In this photo provided by the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area resort, snow comes down in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on Wednesday.(Mammoth Mountain Ski Area/The Associated Press) A person sweeps water away from a shop on the Santa Monica pier on Wednesday.(Wally Skalij/The Associated Press) Workers cut and move a felled tree in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday.(Jill Connelly/Reuters) Michael Burdick prepare sandbags around his home in Altadena, Calif., on Wednesday.(Ty ONeil/The Associated Press) Cars navigated flooded streets in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday.(Jill Connelly/Reuters) A skier navigates through a snow storm at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area resort on Wednesday.(Samantha Lindberg/Mammoth Mountain Ski Area/The Associated Press) Winter storm inundates California with heady rain, mudslides and whiteout chaos Forecasters says Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds leading to evacuation warnings for mudslides in the south, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers. Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years, warning of flash flooding and mudslides. Areas scorched by January's wildfires were under evacuation warnings, and Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday they were going door to door to about 380 especially vulnerable homes to order residents to evacuate. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department also issued an evacuation warning Wednesday morning for the community of Wrightwood, a mountain resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 130 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles, due to potential mud and debris flows from the storm. Debris and mud was seen rushing down the road leading into Wrightwood in a social media video posted by county fire officials. Crews were working to evacuate some homes, the post said. County officials didn't immediately return questions about the evacuation. Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under flood warnings Wednesday, local officials said. Much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area were also under wind and flood advisories. Early Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department rescued a man trapped in a drainage tunnel in northwest LA that led down to a river. No injuries were reported, but the man is being evaluated. Several roadways across the regions were closed due to flooding. Conditions could worsen as multiple atmospheric rivers move across the state during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. The storm in Los Angeles was expected to strengthen into Wednesday afternoon before tapering off later in the evening. James Dangerfield, an 84-year-old Altadena resident, said his family and neighbour helped place sandbags in his backyard earlier this week. His neighborhood was under a flash flood warning as of Wednesday morning, but he wasn't too worried. He lives on a hill, so most rain water flows away from them, he said. For now, he and his wife, Stephanie, planned on staying in the house and spending Christmas Eve with their two adult daughters and grandchildren. "We're just going...

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