Thousands Lose Power in California Storm

Residents of Northern California hunkered down today as a powerful storm drenched the area with yet another round of pounding rain and strong winds. The latest storm system—the third to hit the area in less than a week—moved across the region late last night and early today, dropping as much as an inch of rain per hour in some areas, toppling trees and knocking out electrical service to tens of thousands of people, officials said.

With rivers across Northern California swelling from the deluge, the National Weather Service warned that several rivers were in danger of topping their banks this afternoon or early tomorrow. Flood warnings were in effect for the Napa and Russian rivers, two rivers north of San Francisco with a history of flooding, as well as the Truckee River, near Lake Tahoe. "We've been in preparation mode since Thursday," said Barry Martin, a spokesman for the city of Napa. Click for more. (More Northern California stories.)