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Cars are stuck in mud on Ocean View Boulevard after an
intense winter storm brought down hillsides in wildfire
burn areas north of Los Angeles in La Canada Flintridge,
California, Saturday February 6, 2010.
Homeowners in mud-ravaged foothill towns north of Los
Angeles packed their cars and fled Tuesday as evacuation orders
took hold and a new winter storm approached.
Officials issued evacuation orders for 541 homes on the
hillsides of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton and
two canyons.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies went door to door,
urging people to leave; those who refused signed waivers
acknowledging they were aware of the risk.
Weather forecasters issued a flash flood watch, beginning in
the afternoon, for neighborhoods below steep slopes that were
scorched by the fires last summer.
Sheriff's deputies have also asked residents to move their
vehicles and trash cans away from the streets, where heavy
rain on Saturday caused water and rocks to roar through,
smashing cars and concrete barriers together.
Many people heeded the warning, lugging clothing and
backpacks to cars that rolled down roads already crusted with
the remains of a weekend mudslide that damaged 43 homes.
The National Weather Service said there was a chance of
thunderstorms that could dump more than 5cm of rain in the
foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where debris basins
overflowed and damaged homes over the weekend. The basins are
designed to keep mud and boulders away from homes near the
burn areas. About 300 trucks are being used to clear the
debris channels.
