Hundreds of thousands of homes in California were left without power after torrential downpours and high winds battered the northern part of the state, as forecasters warned of a “relentless parade of cyclones,” over the coming days, writes CNBC.

“Round after round of heavy rain on saturated soils will produce considerable flood potential with rapid river rises, mudslides, and burn scar flash floods or debris flows,” the National Weather Service said in a bulletin, adding that “gusty winds may down trees and power lines”.

More than 540,000 homes and businesses were already without power in California as of 1 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) on Sunday morning, according to data from PowerOutage.us.

The West Coast “remains under the target of a relentless parade of cyclones,” which will intensify over the Pacific Ocean while moving towards land the NWS said. “With terrain already saturated from previous rainfall, additional bursts of heavy rain will lead to a heightened threat of flash flooding and rapid rise of river levels”, - it added.