SoCal digs out after mudslides, flooding, rain rescues; tornado damages homes
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The biggest storm of the winter walloped Southern California on Thursday, forcing the closure of Pacific Coast Highway, damaging homes and vehicles and bringing with it the possibility of “life-threatening” debris flows just a month after fierce Santa Ana winds propelled a firestorm across Los Angeles County.
Street flooding and mudslides were reported across the region as the storm moved through late Thursday, with some of the worst damage taking place along PCH. Mud flows and flash floods have also been reported in the Eaton fire burn area in Altadena and on Mulholland and Outpost drives in the Hollywood Hills.
By Friday morning, conditions were improving as the storm subsided.
“The atmosphere will dry through the day and both the clouds and showers will decrease,” the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office said in a morning update. “Saturday will be quite the pleasant day.”
It’s a dramatic departure from the peak of the storm on Thursday, when a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department driving along PCH in Malibu was swept off the roadway and into the ocean by a debris flow down Big Rock Drive, according to LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott. He was able to exit his car and was transported to a hospital with minor injuries, Scott said.
A massive amount of rainwater and mud was unleashed onto Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday, sweeping an L.A. Fire Department vehicle off the iconic coastal route and prompting an indefinite road closure roughly from Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.
Heavy debris flows were reported near Duke’s Malibu, at PCH and Las Flores Canyon Road. The oceanfront restaurant survived the fire but appeared to be sustaining significant flood damage during the storm as Caltrans crews used heavy machinery to scoop up mud and try to clear the roadway.
Pacific Coast Highway was shut down between Chautauqua Boulevard and Carbon Beach Terrace until further notice, according to the California Department of Transportation.
During the storm, an extreme wind event that meteorologists confirmed Friday was a a weak tornado hit a mobile home park in Oxnard, ripping roofs off homes and tearing power lines to the ground, according to the National Weather Service. There were no immediate reports of people harmed, but around a dozen properties were damaged.
Several structures were damaged.
The National Weather service said it received calls of damage at the Country Club Mobile Estates, east of Oxnard College. The agency sent a team to investigate the damage Friday morning in an effort to determine whether it was a tornado that struck the mobile home community.
By assessing the wreckage, the team was able to determine the intensity of the wind and whether it was a tornado, said John Dumas, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
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Dumas said it’s shocking to hear of a possible tornado in California, “because you’re picturing a twister right?” However, a tornado can be very brief and small, and as long as it’s spinning and formed by the right kind of storm, California can experience them too, he said.
In a statement, the city of Oxnard said it experienced an “extreme wind event” around 3:30 p.m. that damaged about a dozen carports as well as the siding, rain gutters, awning or roofs of several homes in the Ocean Aire Mobile Homes Estates and Country Club Mobile Estates. No residents have been displaced from the incident. The city, in collaboration with the Red Cross, has offered services to those affected.
Fire crews responded to at least two reports of vehicles trapped in rain flows — a pickup truck in the Elysian Valley and an SUV in Panorama City, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Before the storm intensified Thursday afternoon, Jude Bell had been sitting in her SUV — shielded from the steady drizzle that dampened her red brick home in Altadena — making a list of what needed to be done as she waited for a contractor to arrive.
Her home on Alameda Street, unlike many others a block away, was still standing after the devastating firestorm that tore through the San Gabriel Valley community and left death and destruction in its wake.
Parts of her home were damaged by the powerful Santa Ana winds that accompanied the inferno, and the inside has a lingering smoky smell. A month after the fire, she’s still grappling with her insurance company to get things fixed, and she’s worried about toxic compounds in the soil.
Amid all this, the impending rain felt like just another hurdle. The storm wasn’t top of mind, even as experts warned the rain could unleash destructive debris flows, potentially dealing another devastating blow to the ailing community.
“Who knows?” Bell said with a hint of exhaustion. “The fire wasn’t front of mind, either. I didn’t think my house would be damaged by fire.”
Atmospheric rivers that dropped modest rain across Los Angeles County earlier this month didn’t result in significant damage. But on Thursday, the strongest storm of the winter unleashed heavy rain across the fire zones, prompting evacuations.
In the San Gabriel Valley, where the Eaton fire charred a devastating path — leveling more than 9,400 structures including many homes and killing 17 people — a state report noted that there’s a high likelihood that heavy rain could generate large, damaging post-fire flooding and debris flows.
Early Thursday on the Westside, where the Palisades fire burned hillside communities all the way to the Pacific Ocean, officials were also preparing for rockslides, debris flows and flooding.
Customers at Ace Hardware in Altadena had been coming in to grab materials such as tarps and sandbags to protect their damaged homes from the elements.
They’d also been venting and crying, said cashier Paola Vargas, 25.
“They’re scared; we’re all a bit scared,” said Vargas, who also lives in Altadena. “First we had to evacuate because of the fire and now we’re preparing for a flood?”
Her home survived the fire but was damaged by smoke, so her family ended up throwing out much of their belongings as trash.
Animated infographic shows a debris flow works
“I don’t think it’s ever going to be the same again,” she said. “My house is still there, but seeing many neighbors’ homes that are gone, it feels empty. It doesn’t feel the same, very quiet.”
Across Los Angeles County before the peak of the storm, sheriff’s deputies and police officers went door to door to warn residents at greatest risk of being hit by a debris flow that they should evacuate or at least prepare to leave quickly.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for 106 homes in Pacific Palisades, nine homes in the Sunset fire area and four homes in the Hurst fire zone, said Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.
“These are mandatory evacuations, not warnings,” he said. “Residents must leave for their safety. We understand that evacuations are difficult, but this is all about keeping our community safe.”
In areas patrolled by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department — Malibu, Altadena, San Dimas and Palmdale — 98 residences were under mandatory evacuation orders, according to sheriff’s spokesperson Nicole Nishida.
Evacuation warnings were also issued in a number of burned areas, including Brentwood, Sunset Mesa, Hollywood and Hollywood Hills West, Sylmar, Calabasas, Kinneloa Mesa, Arcadia, Sierra Madre and the San Gabriel Mountains, including Mount Baldy Village and Wrightwood.
Farther south, in Orange County, the persistent rain prompted evacuations, and Knott’s Berry Farm closed.
In the area where the Airport fire charred the hillsides above Trabuco Canyon in September, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for the RC Airport, fire station, campground/park and school, Bell Canyon and Hot Springs Canyon.
The storm’s departure is expected to usher in another extended period of dry weather for the rest of February.
Evacuations
Evacuation maps may be found here and here.
Los Angeles County:
Pacific Palisades: There were 106 homes under mandatory evacuation order. The area is limited to only residents through 2 p.m. Friday. Contractors with passes will not be allowed entry. Evacuation warnings were issued for the Getty Villa area, a portion of the Highlands neighborhood near the burned area, the northern section of the Bienveneda Avenue area, a northern section of Temescal Canyon Road, the northern edge of Marinette Road and Oracle Place, and the area around Will Rogers State Park Road, including Villa Woods Drive and Villa Grove Drive.
Brentwood: A warning was issued for Mandeville Canyon Road north of Tanners Road.
Malibu: An evacuation warning was in place for roughly the eastern half of Malibu, from the eastern edge of the city to the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Road, near Bayshore Drive. The warning area includes the Malibu Civic Center and Pepperdine University. Pepperdine shifted to remote classes Thursday and Friday.
Sunset Mesa: The unincorporated area, sandwiched between Malibu and Pacific Palisades just north of Pacific Coast Highway, is under an evacuation warning.
Hollywood and Hollywood Hills West: Nine homes are under a mandatory evacuation order. Warnings are also in effect around the Sunset fire burn zone around Runyon Canyon, including the northernmost blocks of North Vista Street and North Curson Avenue.
Sylmar: Four homes are under a mandatory evacuation order. Evacuation warnings were in effect for a portion of the western edge of Oakridge Mobile Home Park.
Sierra Madre: Northern areas of Sierra Madre are under an evacuation order.
Calabasas: Warnings were in effect in the Malibu Canyon and Alizia Canyon neighborhoods.
Altadena: Warnings were issued for northern areas of Altadena adjacent to the San Gabriel Mountains.
Kinneloa Mesa: The neighborhood is under an evacuation warning.
Pasadena: A northeastern neighborhood is under a warning, including the northern few blocks of Hastings Ranch Road and Park Vista Drive.
San Gabriel Mountains: Areas between East Fork Road and Shoemaker Canyon Road along the San Gabriel River are under a warning.
Arcadia: The northernmost section of the city is under an evacuation warning.
Ventura County
Unincorporated Camarillo: Evacuation warnings have been issued for residents in the unincorporated neighborhoods north of Camarillo’s city limits.
Orange County
Officials in Orange County issued a mandatory evacuation order for areas in Trabuco Creek including the RC Airport, fire station, campground/park and school, Bell Canyon including Starr Ranch and Hot Springs Canyon including Lazy-W Ranch because of the risk of debris flows near the Airport fire burn scar.
Voluntary evacuations remain in place for Long Canyon and Modjeska Canyon.
San Bernardino County
Evacuation warnings were issued for the unincorporated communities of Mount Baldy Village and Wrightwood, as well as some northern and eastern neighborhoods of the city of Highland.
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