Flooding from a powerful storm that moved over the Southland Thursday has prompted the closure of a portion of Pacific Coast Highway through the Huntington Beach area.

The closure from Seapoint Street south of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve to Warner Avenue north of the reserve was announced shortly before 6:30 a.m. by Caltrans District 12 on X, formerly Twitter.

The three-mile stretch was “closed due to flooding caused by heavy rains,” Caltrans stated.

Drivers were urged to use caution while driving and obey all detour signs.

Real-time updates can be found at quickmap.dot.ca.gov.

Thursday’s closure comes as the first of two powerful storms dumps rain on Southern California.

Thursday’s storm is expected to drop between 1 and 3 inches of rain along Southern California’s coasts and valleys with up to 5 inches falling in the foothills.

A second, even stronger storm, is forecast to arrive late Sunday and bring multiple days of rain.