2 killed in massive California storm

One of California's strongest storms in years -- dubbed a "bombogenesis" or "weather bomb" -- has hit the US state, killing two, and bringing torrential rain and flash floods, the media reported on Saturday.

More than 100 homes have been evacuated amid fears of mud slides near Los Angeles, the BBC reported.

Hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled at the Los Angeles International Airport.

The weather has also brought car-swallowing sinkholes and power cuts.

Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for WeatherBell Analytics, told the Los Angeles Times that 10 trillion gallons of rain would fall on California in the next week, enough to power Niagara Falls for 154 days.

Meteorologists describe the "bombogenesis" as an intense extra-tropical cyclonic low-pressure area, or "a weather bomb".

"The storm looks to be the strongest storm to hit southwest California this season," the National Weather Service said.

"It is likely the strongest within the last six years and possibly even as far back as December 2004 or January 1995."

Evacuations have been recommended at hundreds of homes in the city of Duarte, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles, and in parts of Camarillo Springs in Ventura county.

Earlier in the week, heavy rain and melting snow caused fears of flooding at the tallest dam in the country, Oroville Dam, in northern California. More than 180,000 residents were evacuated.

--IANS

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