Storm struck California scrambles to clean up ahead of rain

By BRIAN MELLEY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Storm-ravaged California is scrambling to clean up and repair widespread damage as the lashing rain eases. Forecasts call for thunderstorms Wednesday in the north and then another powerful weather front later this week. Crews are working to reopen major highways that were closed by rockslides, swamped by flooding or smothered with mud. More than 10,000 people who were ordered out of seaside towns on the central coast were allowed to return home Tuesday. Yet thousands of people living near rain-swollen creeks and rivers remain under evacuation orders, including some 4,000 residents of Planada in the San Joaquin Valley, where neighborhoods were under water. Governor Gavin Newsom says at least 17 people have died in the series of storms that began late last week.