Evacuations-under way for LA-area foothills

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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.