Los Angeles rain leads to traffic havoc, mudslides, power outages
By Brian Day, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Ruby Gonzales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
and Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 02/28/14, 7:45 AM PST | Updated: 2 days ago
A second winter storm hit Southern California Friday morning, causing evacuations, power outages, flight cancellations, minor mudslides and a traffic nightmare on area freeways and roads from Malibu to San Bernardino.
Firefighters rescued two dogs and three men in the Los Angeles River and a woman whose car got stuck in the mud in Glendora. A driver from Arcadia ended up in the hospital when he stopped, tried to direct traffic away from fallen power lines on Grand Avenue in Rosemead and told deputies he felt a “shockwave.” He complained of a tingling arm and was taken to a hospital.
And while the rain largely subsided late Friday afternoon and Friday evening, and mitigation efforts had been successful at funneling debris into streets and away from structures, Los Angeles County Fire Department Assistant Chief Steve Martin and other officials cautioned that the storm was not nearly over. Heavy rain was expected to resume about 5 a.m. Saturday before the storm is expected to move out of the area about 9 p.m.
“As the day has gone on (Friday), the saturation effect is starting to take over,” Martin said. “The river that started with water, that turned into mud, are now actually coming from out from the streets. They’re going into the yards, they’re going into the backyards and we have some severe mudflows in some of the backyards.”
Two homes in the 1100 block of N. Easley Canyon Road in Glendora sustained structure damage during a series of short, heavy “microbursts” of rain that fell Friday afternoon, officials said.
An attached garage of one home was inundated with mud, Martin said. Mud piled up against the rear of a neighboring home, however officials had not yet determined the extent of the structural damage.
“As we get into (Saturday), because this is only a lull in the storm, the second half will hit us,” Martin said. “And it’s going to be a little bit worse, only because the hillside is already saturated.”
The low-pressure system is off the coast, but bands of storms continue to encircle a wide swath of Southern California, officials said.
The rain played havoc with the morning commute as 158 accidents were reported to the California Highway Patrol before noon. During the same time period last week the CHP reported 46 traffic.
Afternoon sunshine could destabilize the air and usher in thunderstorms as well as water spouts in the ocean and inland tornadoes, said Scott Sucup, meteorologist with the NWS office in Los Angeles.
“It is going to be pretty much off and on right through Saturday night,” he said. “It will become less widespread on Sunday.”
A flash flood warning issued by the NWS at 9:42 a.m. rang cell phones of residents living along the eastern Los Angeles County foothills and interrupted television and radio programing. The warning remained in effect until early afternoon.
By Friday evening, Glendora officials said the foothills received 3.5 inches of rain and 2 to 4 inches in the mountain ridge. The weather forecast is by the end of the storm, about 5 to 6 inches are expected in the foothills and as much as 10 inches in the ridge, according to Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers.
City Manager Jeffers said their concern still remains the intensity of the rain. He said half an inch of rain per hour is the threshold at which the hillside tends to give way.
He said if residents made the decision to stay in, they should shelter in place.
“Don’t try to get out,” Jeffers said.
An elderly driver trying to cross the 18800 block of Hicrest Road in Glendora was rescued by firefighters shortly after 2 p.m. when her car got trapped in thick mud, according to Martin. She wasn’t injured.
The assistant fire chief said unlike a fire, firefighters may not be able to rush in to help when debris gives way. Firefighters must wait for debris and mud to stop flowing before they can enter a slide area, Martin said.
“Once it’s coming down the hill, you cannot get in front of it,” Martin said.
The fierce storm caused the cancellation of nine arrivals and 10 departures at LAX, said spokesman Katherine Alvarado. When asked if there would be more, she said: “That’s up to Mother Nature.”
Meanwhile, 36,000 Southern California Edison customers from Santa Barbara to Murrieta lost electricity by 4 p.m. Friday, the Rosemead-based agency reported.
Edison spokesman David Song many of the unplanned outages were weather-related.
More than 3,000 customers in Reseda are without power, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Friday evening.
The utility has struggled against the wind and rain throughout the day, with more than 14,000 customers affected by weather-related outages across the city. At 5 p.m., it said 9,500 were without power city-wide, 3,400 of those in Reseda.
The outages have been caused by a mix of downed lines, damage from falling trees and water-logged equipment.
Power has been restored to customers in Northridge, Canoga Park, Valley Glen and Winnetka who were affected earlier in the day.
The agency has crews on scene working to return power at each of the locations affected. No time estimate for restoration of the remaining areas without power is immediately available.
The 158 traffic collisions occurred from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., making the morning commute slow and soggy.
“While traffic crashes have slowed down, we still have several SigAlerts in effect mostly due to big rigs, disabled vehicles and flooding in areas,” California Highway Patrol Officer Tony Pollizi said.
North of Santa Clarita, a mudslide occurred on Lake Hughes Road. Several cars were trapped, but no homes were threatened and no residents were evacuated.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered Friday morning in Monrovia after the National Weather Service issued its flash flood warning, which means flooding and mud slides are imminent. Monrovia officials were going door to door to evacuate 200 residents after the NWS issued a flash flood warning in Monrovia, city officials said.
The evacuations cover Highland Place north of Hillcrest Boulevard, Scenic Drive, Lotone, Heather Heights north of Scenic, Avocado Place, 600 block of Hillcrest Boulevard and 900 block of Crescent Drive.
An evacuation center was being set up at the Monrovia Community Center.
The flash flood warning is for the areas affected by the Colby Fire, Madison Fire and Powerhouse Fire. Residents were advised to be on alert for possible mudslides.
Started by embers from an illegal campfire along the Colby Trail in the Angeles National Forest on Jan. 16, the Colby Fire devoured 1,952 acres in the hills above Glendora and Azusa.
In the foothill communities of Azusa and Glendora, two feet of mud covered portions of Yucca Ridge Road around 10:30 a.m, according to the National Weather Service. Residents said the mud was quickly cleared by bulldozers.
In Glendora, mud moved across Hicrest Avenue, a small, foothill street within the neighborhood of homes located south of where the Colby Fire burned 1,952 acres in January.
Staab said Glendora police received 36 calls related to the storm.
Mitigation efforts such as k-rails were working according to plan, Jeffers said. Although some spots may look “nasty”, he said the systems are working.
“We’re using the streets to funnel the mud,” he said.
Los Angeles County Public Works reported that debris basins near the Colby Fire burn area are holding up well to the storm and remain well under the 50 percent capacity Friday afternoon, Jeffers said.
Mandatory evacuations in Azusa and most of the foothills in Glendora remained in effect Friday. Two Glendora schools, St. Lucy’s and Goddard Middle School, were also closed Friday.
Staab said the department has increased patrols in the evacuated areas to keep an eye on the homes. Many residents told officers they would not leave, but a count of those who stayed was not available, Staab said.
In Malibu, a mudslide occurred early Friday morning. The California Highway Patrol said Malibu Canyon Road between Piuma and Pacific Coast Highway was closed due to a mudslide which was reported to them at 5:06 a.m. by another agency. The CHP didn’t have further information.
A SigAlert was issued for all lanes when a truck jackknifed on the eastbound 210 Freeway just east of La Tuna Road in La Crescenta.
CHP Officer Jose Villalobos said no one was injured in the solo crash which was reported at 4:34 a.m.
Lanes were close at 5:07 a.m. and some reopened at 7:50 a.m.
Wind gusts in local mountains, including both the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains, are expected to reach 60 and 70 miles per hours, according to weather forecasters.
Heavy rain caused flooding in Southland streets.
Flooding shut down a portion of Sierra Madre Avenue in Glendora. According to Azusa police, Sierra Madre Avenue is closed to eastbound traffic between McNeil Drive and Barranca Avenue.
Highway 39 above Azusa was to be closed overnight to allow officials to clear debris, Angeles National Forest fire Battalion Chief Loring Buchwald said.
Officials closed several key intersections in the San Fernando Valley after the overnight downpour flooded the Sepulveda Basin and surrounding surface roads, and the rain continues to fall, snarling traffic for motorists during the morning commute.
Burbank Boulevard from west of the 405 Freeway to Balboa Boulevard was shut down, including the intersection at Hayvenhurst Avenue.
The intersection of Woodley Avenue and Victory Boulevard was also closed, and drivers were encouraged to avoid the area.
Stretches of other main streets, including Ventura Boulevard, also experienced flooding.
Heavily-traveled stretches of road in the San Fernando Valley remain closed Friday afternoon as the continuing downpour brings high water levels in the Sepulveda Basin and flooding on surrounding surface roads.
Burbank Boulevard from west of the 405 Freeway to Balboa Boulevard was shut down. Drivers are being encouraged to avoid the area. Balboa Boulevard is closed between Victory to Burbank boulevards.
Stretches of other main streets, including Ventura Boulevard, were also experiencing flooding from the large amount of rain.
No problems were reported along the coast.
“There’s concern in Malibu (at Surfrider Beach),” Department of Beaches and Harbors spokeswoman Carol Baker said. “There’s an area by the lagoon that traditionally floods in a storm and is flooding now.”
“So far I haven’t heard of any other problems” she added.
Rain-slick roads contributed to crashes well before sunrise Friday in the Inland Empire.
A woman in a Nissan Pathfinder spun out and was then struck by a tractor trailer on the westbound 210 Freeway at Mountain Avenue in Upland at 4:02 a.m. The semi jackknifed, blocking several lanes. The Mountain Avenue on-ramp to the westbound 210 remained closed about two hours later.
Shortly after 9 a.m., traffic was at a standstill on Highway 330, head up into the San Bernardino mountains, near Snow Valley resort.
Work crews said some boulders were on the road, and that the road would be closed until further notice.
It wasn’t snowing, but it was raining hard and it was windy.
San Bernardino County fire and U.S. Forest Service officials received no reports of flooding or mudslides in the area.
Rainfall between 6 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday ranged between about a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of rain in the Inland Empire.Trails and streets were also shut down because of the weather.
Baily Canyon and Mount Wilson Trail in Sierra Madre were closed until Saturday morning.
Bouquet Canyon Road was scheduled to be closed in Agua Dulce Friday from Big Oaks Lodge to two miles north of Vasquez Canyon Road.
Due to potential mud and debris flows, the Los Angeles County Public Works Department announced the following closures:
- Old San Gabriel Canyon Road from the Azusa city boundary to the Angeles National Forest
- Glendora Mountain Road from Big Dalton Road to East Fork Road in the Angeles National Forest
- Glendora Ridge Road from Mount Baldy to Glendora Mountain Road, also in the Angeles National Forest.
- Staff Writers Melissa Masatani, Jason Henry, Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Kelly Goff, Greg Cappis and City News Service contributed to this report.
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