Crews worked to rescue stranded drivers and reopen flooded roadways as the new year began after an intense storm system caused power outages, landslides and flooding in portions of California.
More than 100,000 people were without power in the state on Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. In Sacramento County, dozens of people trapped in partially or completely submerged vehicles have been rescued, according to Dan Quiggle, deputy fire chief of the Cosumnes Fire Department.
Quiggle said one person was found dead inside a submerged vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Previously a person was reported missing who
California storm creates hazardous travel
Dozens of drivers also had to be rescued along a snow-covered Interstate 80 near Lake Tahoe on New Year’s Eve, and the route to the mountains from the San Francisco Bay Area reopened to passenger vehicles with chains Sunday morning. In some areas of the state, roads are still impassable due to flooding or snow.
“For many areas of the state flooding and snow closures still exist,” the California Department of Transportation said Sunday.
Atmospheric river soaks San Francisco
The storms were the result of an atmospheric river of moisture — a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific.
Magnitude 5.4 earthquake near Eureka
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake was recorded Sunday morning at about 10:35 near Eureka, in an area that was already recovering from a 6.4 quake on Dec. 20, killing two, injuring at least 17 and significantly damaging buildings in Humboldt County.

Usatoday