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News

Photos: Rainy Weather Brings Crazy Floods, Overturns McDonald's Truck

By  Jean Trinh
Published Sep 14, 2015 11:00 PM
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After dealing with a hellish heat wave over the last couple of weeks, Angelenos woke up this morning to some muggy and rainy weather. While the rainfall is some sweet relief on our parched earth (hello drought), it also brought with it crazy floods, a horrid morning commute, and some much-needed rescuing in the L.A. River.

The rain was brought in from a low-pressure system that was full of moisture from the former tropical cyclone Linda. The rainfall was so strong that it even set a record in downtown L.A. for today, according to City News Service. In downtown, there was 2.6 inches of rainfall, and 2.26 inches in Culver City as of 8 a.m.

Unfortunately, the rainfall won't be helping out our lack of water situation very much—womp womp. The L.A. Times reports that between 80% and 90% of the rain in the Southland ends up in storm drains that head out to the ocean. In addition:

Locally, rain collects in one of 14 reservoirs in the mountains and is held for later use. At the same time, water in the system is shunted to sunken basins called "spreading grounds," where it slowly seeps into the ground and replenishes the local aquifer. About 38% of the county's water comes from local groundwater sources, according to a recent UCLA study.

Since we hadn't had rain in so long, the National Weather Service released a statement warning drivers on the road that the buildup of oil on the roads could cause for some slippery driving conditions. The driver of a McDonald's big rig found out the hard way today when the truck overturned on the 210 Freeway in Pasadena. Melted dairy products were seen leaking out of the truck. Just moments before, another truck jack-knifed on the 210 and 134 freeways split around 3:26 a.m. Other big rig drivers
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told CBS Los Angeles that part of the freeway was known for being dangerous to drive on after it rained because of the oil slicks. California Highway Patrol Officer Ryan Bejar told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that while they're still investigating the cause of the crashes, the trucks going at an unsafe speed during the rainy weather was a contributing factor.

Firefighters had to rescue three people and dog from the swiftly-moving waters in the L.A. River over in Atwater Village and near Cypress Park.


Here's a video of the L.A. River flowing with a huge stream of water, something you don't see all the time:


The rain also led to some gnarly flooding throughout the city. Over 100 residents at a West Hollywood assisted living apartment complex located on the 800 block of West Knoll Drive had to be evacuated after rain came pouring through the roof, CBS Los Angeles reports. The three-story building had major flooding through the second and third floors of the building. Paramedics had to take one man to the hospital after he complained of chest pains, but there weren't any other reported injuries.

Here are some more wild photos and videos of the floods, mud slides, and falling trees affecting the Southland:

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And just how are Angelenos handling all of this rain? Well...

Even though 100-degree heat won't keep hikers away from Runyon Canyon, apparently rain will: