One dead amid heavy rains in California as storms threaten flooding over Christmas

At least one person has died after severe flooding hit Northern California, with more bad weather on the way during Christmas week.

The floods killed one person and the weather system that caused the flood dumped as much as six inches of rain in Shasta County, according to Redding Mayor Mike Littau.

Littau did not provide further details about the death.

The dangerous weather continued throughout Sunday night, The New York Times reports. Several counties in Northern California were under a flood warning on Sunday evening, and most of Central California was under a flood watch through Friday.

The heaviest rain and flooding over the weekend was in Shasta County on Sunday. Emergency workers received multiple reports of submerged vehicles and first responders had to rescue some residents who became trapped due to the floods.

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One Redding resident, Jan Bodine, 56, told the Times that she was at home on her couch when the floodwaters rushed in through one of her doors. In the span of an hour, her Christmas presents, clothes, and the floors in all of her rooms had been soaked and, in some case,s destroyed by the water.

She told the paper that she did not own flood insurance as it was too expensive.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said.

In another harrowing incident, firefighters from Truckee were called out to use a ladder to help reach residents stranded on a flooded house near the South Yuba River.

No injuries were reported in that situation.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office shared photos of one deputy with the Swiftwater Rescue Team who was chest-deep in water that appeared to be flooding a typical suburban street.

The sheriff's office warned residents not to try crossing flood roadways, noting that the water was "swift and cold and can quickly become overwhelming and life threatening."

According to the National Weather Service in Sacramento, a series of warm atmospheric rivers brought the rain and flooding to the area.

Atmospheric rivers are — like rivers — narrow, long bands of water. But rather than liquid water, the bands are made up of water vapor. They form over the ocean and carry moisture from the warm tropics into the north.

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The systems can bring huge amounts of water to regions that typically might not see that level of inundation. In Redding, a month's worth of rain fell on the city just between Saturday and Sunday.

Despite a brief reprieve on Monday, more rain may be on the way for Northern California this week.

Heavy and potentially flooding rain will fall on Tuesday in Northern California, particularly in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills, according to CNN.

Then another atmospheric river is expected to slam the majority of California beginning on Tuesday night and continuing into Wednesday.

More than 17 million people in Southern California — including Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Santa Barbara residents — have been put under a Level 3 flooding rain threat, according to the Weather Prediction Center.