At least one person drowned in Redding on Sunday amid heavy rainfall and flooding in Northern California. <\/p>\n
Redding Mayor Mike Littau described a harrowing overnight scene on flooded Highway 273, where a man was trapped in a vehicle as water poured in. Facing the violent storm, first responders could not reach the man before his emergency call disconnected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phone died,\u201d Littau wrote on Facebook. \u201cA Redding police officer swam out into the water, broke the windows and pulled [the] victim to shore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer attempted CPR, but the man \u2014 later identified as Richard Michael Wilsey, 74 \u2014 was later pronounced dead, according to Littau.<\/p>\n
Gusty winds and heavy rainfall created what weather professionals called a \u201cconvergence line\u201d that lingered over Shasta County for hours on Sunday, dropping more than 5 inches of rain in some areas.<\/p>\n
The surge overwhelmed infrastructure and flooded much of the city, which is about 160 miles north of Sacramento. <\/p>\n
Now, officials are \u201cvery concerned\u201d that conditions could worsen throughout the week as the atmospheric river storm system heads south, threatening what the National Weather Service predicted could be the Southland\u2019s stormiest Christmas in recent memory<\/a>. <\/p>\n The California Department of Transportation warned that flooding could occur with little notice and advised residents to evacuate or prepare to shelter in place.<\/p>\n \u201cConditions are unsafe, and first responders are already stretched thin,\u201d Caltrans said in an alert Monday. \u201cIf you must travel and encounter water on the roadway, turn around. Don\u2019t drown.\u201d<\/p>\n An evacuation center was opened at Pilgrim Congregational Church at 2850 Foothill Blvd. in Redding.<\/p>\n As much as 20 inches of rain deluged other areas of Northern California over the weekend, with the Plumas National Forest east of Chico recording more than 12 inches Sunday. <\/p>\n