In pictures: storms wreak havoc on California

California hasn't been such a pleasant place to be lately, as brutal storms have hit the state since the holidays began in December.

So far the flooding, landslides, and falling trees have caused at least 17 people to die, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

In addition, CNN reports that 34,000 Californian residents remain under evacuation orders due to heavy rainfall and the threat of more flooding looms.

According to the BBC, over 20 million Californians are on flood alert this week due to the thunderstorms hammering down on northern California. Los Angeles and San Diego areas are also at high risk for mudslides.

According to CNN, the storms are "part of a wave of atmospheric rivers – long, narrow regions in the atmosphere that can transport moisture thousands of miles."

The result is that the West Coast of California has faced rainfall totals that the National Weather Prediction Center say are 400% to 600% above average.

Thousands of homes and businesses have suffered severe damage due to the flooding caused by the storms.

Storm after storm hitting the same areas has made the damage far worse. When the soil is already very wet, and the chance of flooding increases.

When the soil becomes totally drenched and has little chance of drying out, the possibility of landslides is also high.

Sinkholes are another problem California is facing due to the storms. Here we see a car and a pickup truck inside a sinkhole caused by the storms in Los Angeles on January 10. The sinkhole opened up as the owners were driving their vehicles on the road.

In addition, trees may weather one storm with minor damage, but successive storms cause more damage to trees, increasing the chance that they can fall and damage homes and vehicles or even kill or injure people.

Power outages have also been disrupting life in California, another consequence of the unusual storms.

According to PowerOutage.us, over 100,000 homes and businesses in California did not have electricity on the evening of January 10th.

It isn't clear when the storms will cease, yet many have begun the process of cleaning up Mother Nature's mess.

Californians whose homes have been flooded have returned to see what they can salvage.

While in other areas of the state, citizens are hunkering down to wait out the next storm.