Swift-water rescue teams helped save families and even livestock in Humboldt County, California Sunday, as Northern California was swamped by heavy rain from a powerful atmospheric river.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. – Swift water teams were deployed to Humboldt County in Northern California on Sunday as a powerful atmospheric river slammed the region with heavy rain and caused significant flooding.
AT LEAST 1 KILLED AS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BATTERED BY RAIN, MAJOR CHRISTMAS FLOOD THREAT LOOMS FOR LOS ANGELES
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Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook) -
Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook) -
Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook) -
Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook) -
Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Video released by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office shows deputies on jet skis and boats reaching flooded homes in the Bayside, Freshwater and several other communities.
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The sheriff’s office posted images of goats and sheep that had to be rescued from the front porch of a home, surrounded by floodwaters.
Other images showed deputies wading through chest-high water.
Widespread flooding across Humboldt County, California, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Many state and local roads were still flooded Monday morning. The county released a list of businesses where sandbags were being staged.
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The heavy rain caused many rivers and creeks in the county to overflow their banks. Flooding was reported throughout Northern California over the weekend, where nearly a foot of rain fell in some places.
Flooding on U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County, California, on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
(@CaltransDist1/X / FOX Weather)
The powerful atmospheric river will remain over the region through Monday, ahead of a second storm, an area of low pressure off the coast, that is expected to intensify by Tuesday night.
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Northern California remains under a Flood Watch through the end of the workweek.
