January 11, 2023 James Claffey walks from his stalled car on a flooded Highway 101 in Montecito. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) By Ryan Fonseca Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Wednesday, Jan. 11. I’m Ryan Fonseca and much of California remains a wet mess this week. The latest barrage of stormy weather — part of what the National Weather Service called a “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers” moving through California — brought heavy rain, jaw-dropping flooding and mudslides. The storms downed trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands. In some parts of the state, rainfall totals have been 400% to 600% above average over the past several weeks. The latest estimates put the damages at $1 billion. The storms have also been deadly. As of Tuesday evening, an estimated 17 people have died. My colleagues Terry Castleman, Hayley Smith and Grace Toohey are reporting on those victims. That’s more lives lost “than wildfires in the past two years combined,” according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. “Our message to Californians is simple: be hyper-vigilant,” Newsom said in a statement. “There are still several days of severe winter weather ahead and we need all Californians to be alert and heed the advice of emergency officials.” By now you’ve seen the footage on social media showing flooded streets, landslides, sinkholes and more. The Santa Cruz area was hit hard when the San Lorenzo River flooded. High winds also sent tree tops flying into homes. Storm surge also destroyed part of the Capitola Pier. There was even a pair of tornado warnings overnight Tuesday in the Modesto and Rancho Calaveras area. The entire town of Planada was put under evacuation orders Tuesday morning as streets flooded with murky water. You know it’s a serious downpour when the Los Angeles River actually looks like a river. Rainfall also caused flooding at L.A.'s Union Station, in Studio City and other neighborhoods. So when will the rain let up? Parts of the state were expected to get a “brief break” from rainfall Tuesday night but yet another atmospheric river is forecast to move through Northern California beginning today. That system is expected to then move north into Oregon and Washington. Rain will continue dousing the state through the weekend. But more storm systems — at least three more —are expected to move through the state into next week. Forecasters say the skies could clear sometime around Jan. 19. So keep your rain boots and umbrellas handy, and it won’t hurt to follow the latest storm updates from the National Weather Service and your local emergency officials on social media. And given California’s car dependency, my colleague Jessica Roy put together some tips for driving in heavy rain. The best advice: don’t.