Photos: Devastating scenes from the California storms
In this image taken with a drone, a vehicle is stuck in a sinkhole in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Sinkholes swallowed cars and raging torrents swamped towns and swept away a small boy Tuesday as California was wracked by more wild winter while the next system in a powerful string of storms loomed on the horizon. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Following days of rain, floodwaters surround homes and vehicles in the Planada community of Merced County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
In an aerial view, a vehicle is trapped by mud and debris at Jameson Lane near Highway 101 in Montecito, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. California saw little relief from drenching rains Tuesday as the latest in a relentless string of storms swamped roads, turned rivers into gushing flood zones and forced thousands of people to flee from towns with histories of deadly mudslides. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Floodwaters course through a neighborhood in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Following days of rain, Bear Creek overflowed its banks leaving dozens of homes and vehicles surrounded by floodwaters. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Brenda Ortega, 15, salvages items from her flooded Merced, Calif., home on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Following days of rain, Bear Creek overflowed its banks leaving dozens of homes and vehicles surrounded by floodwaters. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Pedestrians stand under an umbrella on a path in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Storm-ravaged California is scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Matt O'Brien shovels mud from a friend's driveway after the San Lorenzo River overflowed in the Felton Grove neighborhood of Felton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Crews work to drain rainwater flooding the Union Station's pedestrian passageway, which leads to train platforms in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A pedestrian carries an umbrella while walking past a painting of the American flag in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Storm-ravaged California is scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Pauline Torres carries belongings from her flooded Merced, Calif., home on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Muddy streets in the Felton Grove neighborhood of Felton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Howard Burman clears mud that washed through his garage after the San Lorenzo River overflowed in the Felton Grove neighborhood of Felton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Floodwaters inundated the Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Cars remain in a large sinkhole along Iverson Road in Chatsworth, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
Exposed roofing tops a South San Francisco, Calif., apartment building as storms continue battering the state on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. According to South San Francisco Deputy Fire Chief Matt Samson, squall-like conditions overnight including wind gusts around 70 mph blew roofing material off the building causing water intrusion to two of the apartments. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
In an aerial view, a flooded area by the overflowing San Ysidro creek on Jameson Lane is seen near the closed Highway 101 in Montecito, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. California saw little relief from drenching rains Tuesday as the latest in a relentless string of storms swamped roads, turned rivers into gushing flood zones and forced thousands of people to flee from towns with histories of deadly mudslides. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
A vehicle is trapped by mud and debris at Jameson Lane near Highway 101 in Montecito, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. The series of storms that have struck California have poured water on a state mired in a years-long drought. Experts say the precipitation will help relieve the drought somewhat. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
River hangs from a fallen basketball hoop after the San Lorenzo River overflowed in the Felton Grove neighborhood of Felton, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom surveys storm damage inside Paradise Beach Grille restaurant in Capitola, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Two vehicles are stuck in a sinkhole in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Sinkholes swallowed cars and raging torrents swamped towns and swept away a small boy Tuesday as California was wracked by more wild winter while the next system in a powerful string of storms loomed on the horizon. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Following days of rain, floodwaters surround homes and vehicles in the Planada community of Merced County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Jesus Torres carries belongings from his flooded Merced, Calif., home on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Abraham Ayala, right, wades through water in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Following days of rain, floodwaters cover streets in the Planada community of Merced County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Fallen eucalyptus trees are left after heavy storm winds and rains in Sacramento's Capitol Park in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Kathleen Ronayne)
Rain falls as a pedestrian walks up a hill carrying an umbrella in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Storm-ravaged California is scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A pedestrian carries an umbrella while crossing in front of Cable Cars in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Resident Laurie Morse, 59, shovels wet sand into bags in the pouring rain, a last ditch effort to keep a rising creek out of her garage in the town of Rio Del Mar in Aptos, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Her roof was leaking, and along with her neighbors. The town has been dealing with every problem brought by the rainstorms rolling through California: massive logs and stumps are tumbling down the bloated Aptos Creek from the Santa Cruz mountains into the Monterey Bay, where high tides and large swells are tossing them back up the beach and into town. (AP Photo/Martha Mendoza)
A person looks north from Grand View Park in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Storm-ravaged California is scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
"Mom, it's OK," her son, Kyle, reassured her from the back seat. "Just be calm."
"That's the price of living in paradise. We have rain and mudslides and devastating fires."
Despite desperate pleas from California Gov. Gavin Newsom about the dangers of extreme weather, and weeks of advance warnings from meteorologists, the relentless series of storms drenching California has already claimed more lives than the death toll from the past two years of wildfires.
A new study says drenchings like those California has been getting since Christmas will only get wetter and nastier with climate change. Already more than 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow have fallen on California.
In California, only about 230,000 homes and other buildings have flood insurance policies — only about 2% of properties.
With water gushing through California’s rivers, some farmers have started devoting a portion of their land to capture these flows and let them seep into the ground. The move is part of a push to increase a practice known as on-farm recharge.
As winter approached, few anticipated what was about to hit California. Mired in a serious drought, the state was suddenly battered by an onslaught of 31 atmospheric river storms in a matter of months.