Deadly storms batter California

Dozens of homes are unsafe as they face collapse

Mudslides have killed nine people in southern California and left nearly 100 homes uninhabitable.

Among those killed during several days of storms was a 16-year-old girl who died when mud and boulders crashed into her bedroom as she did her homework.

Roads have been washed away and a small airport closed after water from a flooded river surged across the runway.

The mayor of Los Angeles, James Hahn, has urged President George W Bush to declare a federal emergency.

Damage to homes and public buildings is estimated at $10m.

The mayor's office said 27 homes had been red tagged - banning entry to the structure - and 69 had been yellow-tagged, meaning entry is restricted.

The region has had one of its wettest seasons on record. Last month, 10 people were killed in a mudslide in the hamlet of La Conchita, 70 miles (110km) north of Los Angeles.

Those killed in the latest storm include a man who was killed when a eucalyptus tree fell on his truck on Monday, and a woman from Nevada who was killed in an avalanche while she was cross-country skiing near Lake Tahoe.

In Ventura Country, the small Santa Paula airport was closed indefinitely on Tuesday when part of the runway collapsed into the Santa Clara river.