Heavy rains from atmospheric river cause mudslides, while 100 mph winds hit some northern areas
Torrential rains hammered Southern California, flooding freeways, triggering mudslides that engulfed hillside homes and forcing authorities to rescue people trapped in raging waters.
The deluge battered communities from Santa Barbara to San Diego, with up to 10 inches of rain falling in some places since Sunday, shattering rainfall records across the region, according to the National Weather Service. About 4.1 inches of rain poured onto downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, breaking the daily record of 2.55 inches of rain set in 1927, according to the NWS. It was the third wettest day on record for February, with the high of 4.8 inches set in 1913.
The storm also broke rainfall records at Los Angeles International Airport, Long Beach Airport and Santa Barbara Airport, the weather service said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said evacuations had been enforced in several areas after homes were hit by mudslides and debris flows. The weather service on Monday warned residents in the Hollywood Hills and around the Santa Monica Mountains to avoid traveling as those areas could get hit with life-threatening landslides and flash floods.
A total of 49 mudslides were reported across Los Angeles, including ones that struck two homes in the Studio City neighborhood and resulted in the evacuation of 16 people from those and neighboring properties, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said in a Monday morning press update.
Her agency reported “significant damage” to about five homes in the Hollywood Hills on Monday which left an additional 10 people displaced. Just downhill, Scott and Deborah Windus on Monday used shovels to clear another small mudslide blocking a drain and threatening to flood the road.
“We don’t know when it happened,” said Deborah, 72. “It’s for safety’s sake, we want to make sure the drains are going.”
Nearby, other residents tried to clear some of the debris with shovels, in order to pull out cars. An excavator was also trying to dig through the debris pile, trying to dislodge at least two cars stuck in the mud. Nearby a family with young children was leaving a house with packed bags in a car.
