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Several people have died and hundreds of thousands of homes are without power after powerful storms in California.
The entire celebrity-dense town of Montecito is forced to evacuate – and in Santa Barbara, streets are under water.
“Take care of yourselves” writes television profile Ellen DeGeneres on Instagram.
Several people have died after a powerful storm moved in over California in the western United States. 25,000 people have had to evacuate their homes due to heavy downpours across the region. The city of Montecito had to be completely evacuated due to flooding, reports Reuters.
Montecito is home to TV personality Oprah Winfrey and Harry and Meghan, among others. Reuters writes that it is unclear if the celebrities were forced to leave the area.
On Instagram, program host Ellen DeGeneres – who also lives in Montecito – writes about the heavy flooding. She has also filmed herself in front of a powerful landslide.
“Montecito is under mandatory evacuation. We are at a higher altitude so they asked us to take shelter here. Take care,” she writes.
Kayaking in the city
Authorities in 17 regions of California have previously warned residents that the rainy weather that began in December could lead to landslides and floods.
Santa Barbara is one of the cities affected by flooding. On social media, a clip of a man paddling a kayak in the middle of the city has spread, something that the entertainment site TMZ drew attention to.
Several people have died in the storm that has ravaged California since December 26, according to Reuters. Among other things, a child died after a tree fell on a family’s caravan last week.
The US weather authority National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that the new storm will affect most of California’s 39 million inhabitants. During Monday, hundreds of thousands of homes were without power due to the strong winds.
The country’s President Joe Biden has authorized the country’s emergency agency FEMA to mobilize emergency resources in California.