A strong storm, accompanied by gale-force winds, sweeps California todaycausing dangerous flooding for millions of people, especially in the southern part of the US state.

The US Weather Service (NWS) warned of “potentially fatal” flooding as a result of the “heavy rainfall”, as hundreds of thousands of people were left without power.

According to local authorities, a man died in northern California when he was crushed by a tree in his garden.

“It is a very large storm, with dangerous consequences that can potentially threaten lives“said California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, declaring a state of emergency in 8 counties with more than 20 million residents, out of California’s 58 total, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Santa Barbara.

Nearly 700,000 households were plunged into darkness this morning local time, according to specialist website PowerOutage.us.

Dozens of flights to and from Los Angeles airport were canceled or delayed, according to flightaware.com.

According to the NWS, 13-20 cm of rain is expected to fall in Los Angeles today, with the total amounting to 35 cm of rain over a 48-hour period in various areas.

Meteorologists warn that weather conditions “will worsen” during the day, causing “flash flooding” and “landslides».

The NWS he also spoke of dangerous “lightning”, “flooding in urban areas” and “river overflows».

This storm with wind gusts of more than 100 km/h is part of a weather phenomenon dubbed the “Pineapple express” which is forming in Hawaii near a tropical moisture belt.

The US West Coast experienced an unusually wet winter last year, thanks to a series of storms that produced record rainfall.

At least 20 people lost their lives due to the extreme weather conditions and serious damage and power outages were caused.