More than a dozen people died as multiple storms caused severe flooding and mudslides across California.

RELATED: More rain expected after unrelenting wave of storms in California https://bit.ly/3GsYZL3

Thousands of Californians fled their homes, and the death toll from the wave of devastating storms rose to 16 as the latest “atmospheric river” slammed a wide swath of the state with gale-force winds and more than a foot of rain.

“The endless onslaught of potent systems with atmospheric rivers of moisture continue to inundate California,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. “Torrential rain, widespread flooding, rapid water rises, mudslides and landslides with possible debris flows, heavy mountain snow and gusty high winds all remain threats to the Golden State.”

Farther south, about 10,000 residents in and around the Santa Barbara County community of Montecito were ordered to evacuate. The town, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, was the site of mudslides five years ago that killed 23.

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