This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
LA Rain: 2nd storm leads to power outages, mandatory evacuations, flash flood warnings, and road closures (Updated)
A satellite image of the storm that is responsible for several inches of rain over Southern California on Friday, February 28, 2014.
(
Courtesy NOAA
)
Crews from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works use heavy equipment to clear a mudslide from Lake Hughes Road near Castaic on Friday, February 28, 2014.
(
Courtesy Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
)
Rainwater floods Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Moorpark Street in Studio City on Friday morning, Feb. 28 after an overnight storm in Southern California.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
A street sign on Coldwater Avenue in Studio City is knocked over on Friday, Feb. 28 after an overnight rainstorm in Southern California.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Rainwater floods Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Moorpark Street in Studio City on Friday morning, Feb. 28 after an overnight storm in Southern California.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
The San Fernando Valley sits under cloud cover on Friday, Feb. 28 during a rainstorm in Southern California.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Crews from the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works clear a landslide in Little Tujunga Canyon caused by a rain storm on February 28, 2014.
(
Courtesy City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works
)
Crews work on cleaning up a mudslide on Hicrest Road near Glendora on Friday, February 28, 2014. The neighborhood is adjacent to the area burned by the Colby Fire in the Angeles National Forest in January. The lack of vegetation on the mountains has officials concerned about mudslides.
(
Sharon McNary/KPCC
)
Streets were flooded at Coldwater Canyon and Moorpark in Los Angeles on Friday, February 28, 2014, as the second storm of the week pummeled the region with heavy rainfall.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Jim Hardie, director of park operations for Tree People, walks in their trails to check for damage from last night's storm that hit Southern California.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Jim Hardie, director of park operations for Tree People, opens a drain cover that leads to the park's cistern on Friday, Feb. 28. After this weeks' rain, the eight-foot deep tank is filled to about three feet.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Tree People use the cistern to water their plants without having to "import" water from the city. But this year's lack of rain may lead to them needing to use some imported water.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
Spouts funnel water from the roof of the Tree People offices into a drain to the cistern. The cistern holds 216,000 gallons of water, enough to water their garden through the summer.
(
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
)
A resident checks on his property on February 28, 2014 on Ridgeview Drive in Azusa. Officials have ordered evacuations due to concerns that a major storm moving through Southern California may trigger mudslides in the adjacent hills.
(
Shirley Jahad/KPCC
)
An Azusa police officer talks with residents on Ridgeview Drive on February 28, 2014. Officials are concerned that mudslides in the adjacent hills could damage homes in the neighborhood.
(
Shirley Jahad/KPCC
)
Power outages | Rain map | Surf | School closures | Snow reports | Twitter alerts
UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: L.A. County Fire just issued an emergency evacuation order for everyone on Ridgeview Drive. Everyone is to evacuate immediately. Keep roadways clear for emergency personnel. Do not enter the area at all.
Azusa Police tell KPCC that they are extending the evacuation order from 10 homes to 26, after 2-3 feet of mud began to accumulate in the backyards of a couple of homes in the area. Police say the hillside is unstable and the anticipated incoming storm cell heading towards Azusa may exacerbate the problem.
"Mud is very heavy, and if we get heavy rains, the situation can be changed quickly," said Sgt. Sam Fleming of the Azusa Police Department. "That could cause some problems for people that wanted to stay there, so we're under a mandatory evacuation. We're not letting foot traffic or anyone back into that neighborhood."
Heavy rain continues to fall across Southern California Friday as a second winter storm entered the region, producing heavy rainfall and leading to road closures, fallen trees, minor mudslides and continuing vigilance on the part of residents and officials.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm is expected to continue to produce heavy rainfall through the weekend, with a chance of thunderstorms through Saturday night. A winter storm warning is expected to remain in effect until 3 a.m. Sunday.
About 1.25 inches of rain fell at USC near downtown Los Angeles, while the Van Nuys Airport reported getting 2 inches. The mountains have seen much more precipitation, with Mount Baldy reporting nearly 5 inches.
Sponsored message
RELATED: LA Rain: Storm disrupts morning commute; 2nd storm predicted to hit overnight
Some 4 to 5 inches of rain are forecast for the foothill areas, twice that amount in the mountain ridge areas, according to Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers.
“We may even see sun break through, but not to be fooled by that,” said Jeffers. “They expect this storm to be all the way through until about 9 o'clock on Saturday evening.”
The CHP reported about 158 collisions in Los Angeles County between 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday, more than three times the number of accidents reported on a non-rain day.
Flash flood warnings have been issued throughout the Los Angeles area:
- A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for the Madison Fire burn area near Monrovia. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Highland Place north of Hillcrest Blvd; Scenic Drive; Lotone Street; Heather Heights Court north of Scenic Drive; Avocado Place; the 600 block of Hillcrest Boulevard; and the 900 block of Crescent Drive.
- More Flash Flood Warnings have been issued for the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County and near Redlands in the Inland Empire.
- Glendora Police Chief Tim Staab has received the first report of "a little bit of mud flow" on Hicrest Road, near the intersection of Sierra Madre Avenue and Yucca Ridge. Also, mud is flowing in "the setback area behind homes on Ridgeview Drive" according to Azusa police, which is monitoring. There are no immediate reports of damage to homes.
- A flash flood watch is in effect from 3 a.m. Friday until Saturday evening for the Colby, Madison, Madre and Powerhouse fire burn areas in L.A. County.
- As of 10:30 a.m., there has been a report of two feet of mud on Yucca Ridge Road along with other mudflows seen near the Colby burn area.
- A flash flood watch was also in effect for Azusa.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Glendora and Azusa and they remain in effect as of Friday night.
A number of businesses were also affected by the rain. At about 9 a.m., rain that had pooled on the roof of Glendora Village Goldsmith started pouring into the jewelry store said saleswoman Elisha Becerra.
Sponsored message
"It sounded like a waterfall," she said. "It was really sloshing in."
The store is in the 100 block of north Glendora Avenue. Workers covered the jewelry cases with tarps and did what they could to keep the valuable inventory safe while they vacuumed up puddles and brought in a dehumidifier to dry the store.
Officials warned early on of mud and debris flows near burn areas and were keeping watch Friday. Police Chief Tim Staab said they will remain vigilant:
“It’s that high volume, short amount of time, intense type of rain that we are really concerned about. That’s what the experts tell us – it is that type of rain that causes the mudslides,” Staab said. “If Mother Nature can be good to us and slow down, we would really be happy with that.”
KPCC's Sharon McNary captured a flow on Hicrest Road near the intersection of Sierra Madre Avenue and Yucca Ridge in near Glendora.
(Video: Mud flows on Hicrest Road near Glendora. Credit: Sharon McNary)
Sponsored message
Audio: KPCC's Sharon McNary on Hicrest mud flow
A flash flood watch was in effect from Friday at 3 a.m. until Saturday at 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. There was also a winter storm warning and high wind warnings for other parts of the Southern California region.
Erik Scott, an LAFD spokesman, said rescue workers were called to assist a man who was in the LA River. When they got to the site near Olympic Blvd, he'd already pulled himself out onto the embankment. Firefighters lowered themselves with ropes and pulled him to safety and were treating him in their ambulance.
"Very fast-moving water throughout these areas. Very slippery embankments, and people will get to the edge and not be able to climb up; get to the edge and slip down," said Scott. "So we really try to remind citizens that when these rainstorms impact Los Angeles area, these flood control channels and rivers, arroyos, really quickly fill up with fast moving water, and it creates a potentially life-threatening danger to people that get caught and swept away much easier than they really thought."
The National Weather Service publishes the latest alerts and advisories available on its website.
The LAPD reports that flooding has led to road closures in the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley. Burbank Boulevard is closed between Balboa Boulevard and the I-405 Freeway and Victory Boulevard at Woodley Avenue.
Sponsored message
Several roads were closed due to potential mud or debris slides in the Colby Fire burn area, as well as potential flooding, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. They include:
- Lake Hughes Road at Elizabeth Lake Road in Castaic.
- 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.
- Bouquet Canyon Road will be closed in Agua Dulce from Big Oaks Lodge to two miles north of Vasquez Canyon Road at 1 a.m. Friday.
CalTrans reported these closures Friday morning in the Inland Empire:
- State Route 142 at Chino Hills Parkway in San Bernardino County.
- State Route 2 is closed at Big Pines (west of Wrightwood) for the duration of the storm.
- State Route 74 in Riverside County is-closed from Grand to Candy Store due to debris in the roadway.
- State Route 18 between Snow Valley & Big Bear Dam in San Bernardino County is closed due to rock slides.
You can check updated highway conditions on the California Highway Patrol’s Twitter feed.
Power Outages:
According to the LADWP, the winter storm has caused power outages in the City of Los Angeles. As of 10 a.m., approximately 14,000 customers of LADWP’s 1.4 million electric customers are without power.
The following areas and neighborhoods have the highest number of customers impacted:
Brentwood: 880
Pacific Palisades: 813
East Hollywood: 847
Sawtelle: 784
Echo Park: 698
Beverly Crest: 690
Encino: 570
Bel Air: 510
Hyde Park: 398
Canoga Park: 141
Reseda: 107
West Adams: 42
El Sereno: 35
Larchmont: 27
Crews are working throughout the City to restore power to customers as quickly as possible.
Surf Advisory
A high surf advisory remains in effect through Sunday, with waves 4 to 7 feet expected at many local beaches on Friday and sets of 8 to 12 feet and as high as 15 feet during the peak Saturday, according to NWS.
The most threatened locations include low-lying areas near Venice Beach and Long Beach. High surf will create strong and dangerous rip currents in the surf zone as well as waves that can suddenly wash people off of beaches and rocks.
School Closures
School closures include: Goddard Middle School and the private Saint Lucy's Priory High School in Glendora and Pasadena City College will close all campuses 12 p.m.
Snow Reports
Big Bear and Snow Summit are closed for the day because of high winds and lightning. Expecting as much as a foot of snow overnight and into tomorrow.
Rockslides on the Highway 330 have closed the front road to the resorts, but will probably reopen later.
Precipitation Map
(Map: Raw precipitation from 12 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, to 12 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28. Data source: National Weather Service)
Check out up-to-the minute updates from social media:
Tweets from https://twitter.com/ripleycal/larain-alerts
This story will be updated.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
