A powerful storm carrying a strong atmospheric river laid siege to California over the last several days — setting records in parts of the state — with evacuations orders still ongoing Thursday because of the risk of life-threatening flooding and debris flows.

Chain controls have been in effect on both Highway 50 and Interstate 80 in the Sierra since Wednesday and remain up as of Friday morning. Drivers were urged to avoid traveling up the mountain for the time being. Travel on 80 was also closed to all semi-trucks and trailers for the time being between Applegate and the Nevada state line.

Strong winds and rain brought misery to California on Wednesday, with downed trees, flooding and intermittent power outages reported across the state. Multiple counties, especially in Southern California, are under flash flood warnings after an atmospheric river dropped inches of rain in the region.

A powerful Christmas storm is dumping rain across Southern California, putting at-risk communities on alert and prompting evacuation warnings.

At least three people have died and more than 140,000 homes and businesses faced power outages on Christmas Day after a powerful winter storm struck California and broke rainfall records on Wednesday, triggering road closures and flooding, as forecasters warn of more rain.