Storms can have damaging effects on communities and in general mobilize all resources to protect citizens from catastrophic events, such as those that occurred on February 5th. Southern California was impacted by an atmospheric river and over 14 million people were placed under high risk of excessive rainfall, according to CNN News. 

Here is a quick background of atmospheric rivers and severity. CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert reported that atmospheric rivers are plumes of moisture behaving in such a way that it causes intense weather changes in the region, causing an unload of drenching rainfall. However, while the incoming rainfall would be essential for the depleting water reservoirs to be filled up just before the hot summer months, the aftermath can’t be ignored. Gilbert discussed the increased chances of flooding because of excessive rainfall, as the rain has no time to dry out before the next sequence.

Over 14 million people were placed under risk of excessive rainfall and in just 24 hours, Los Angeles accumulated more than a month’s worth of rain. The city reported a surprising 4.10 inches of rain on Sunday and February is the wettest month of the year.

As the storm made its way, scientists were looking at the climate crisis and El Niño, present in the Pacific and these storms are fuled by the warm ocean temperatures, CNN stated.

For information on the coverage of the Atmospheric River that landed in California, check the timeline posted by CNN to see what happened, from start to finish.