‘Bomb cyclone’ brings damaging winds and rain to California

An empty vehicle is surrounded by floodwaters on a road in Oakland, California (Godofredo A Vasquez/AP)

Damaging winds and heavy rains from a powerful “atmospheric river” have pounded California, knocking out power to tens of thousands, causing flash flooding, and contributing to the deaths of at least two people, including a child whose home was hit by a falling tree.

Officials had ordered evacuations in a high-risk coastal area where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018 as the huge storm barrelled into the US state on Wednesday.