Soaked and Battered by Repeating Rainstorms, California Girds for More – the New York Times

Extreme weather has plagued many parts of the country this fall and winter. But few places have been as ravaged by the changing climate these last weeks as California.
An unrelenting series of pounding storms over at least 11 days has left no part of California untouched — flooding towns from north to south, loading inland mountains with snow and transforming the often dry Los Angeles River into a raging channel…
Before-and-after photos show damage to Capitola after California storm – SF GATE

One of California’s prettiest little beach towns is in for a long recovery after brutal surf and whipping winds tore apart its picturesque village.
Capitola was hit hard last week by what meteorologists called a “bomb cyclone” storm. Waves were so intense that its historic wharf broke in half, and Capitola’s photogenic downtown was flooded with debris. Along with water damage, businesses and homes must contend with all manner of flotsam and jetsam that now litter the waterfront…
Coastal California is Ravaged by Multiple Atmospheric Rivers

People tend to have a short disaster memory…What this storm is telling us is it’s time to think a little more long-term and make some decisions…We’ve been Band-Aiding things together for a long time.” – Gary Griggs
Gallery images courtesy of Shmuel Thaler / Santa Cruz Sentinel, Kim Steinhardt, and Gary Griggs