CALIFORNIA - Torrential downpours and damaging winds left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power in California late on Sunday as the area braced itself for the next onslaught of severe weather.

More than 560,000 homes and businesses were reported to be still without power in California as at 05:06 Eastern Time (10:06 GMT), according to data from PowerOutage.us.

At least six people have died in the severe weather since the New Year’s weekend, including a toddler killed by a fallen redwood tree that crushed a mobile home in northern California.

Forecasters have warned of yet another “atmospheric river” of dense, moist tropical air hitting California on Monday with rain and mountain snow.

An NWS weather alert on Saturday warned that the cumulative effect of successive heavy rainstorms since late December could bring rivers to record high levels and cause flooding across much of Central California. REUTERS