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California Storm Was A Nearly 500-Year Event, Officials Say

California Storm Was A Nearly 500-Year Event, Officials Say

By Joseph Serna, Louis Sahagun, and Matt Hansen, Los Angeles Times

A tropical rain storm that caused deadly floods and destructive mudslides in California’s San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday was the kind of weather event seen only once about every 500 years, the National Weather Service said.

Starting at about 2:45 p.m., the storm dropped nearly 4 inches of rain onto Mt. Baldy in a single hour, triggering mudslides and floods that killed one motorist and severely damaged more than 30 homes.

The deluge also cut off the community of Forest Falls after mudslides of up to 10-feet high buried the town’s lone road connecting it to California 38. San Bernardino County firefighters were still assessing the damage Monday and Tuesday, but said about 100 buildings had sustained damage.

Roughly 60 structures took some sort of hit to their exteriors, while six sustained moderate or major structural damage, officials said. Three outbuildings — another term for a shack — were completely destroyed. Two dogs were also killed in Sunday’s deluge.

At Mt. Baldy, 33 homes sustained moderate to major structural damage, said firefighter Chris Prater. At least six of the homes were red-tagged, meaning they were uninhabitable, officials said.
The community of Highland was also damaged by flash flooding.

The rain and subsequent floods overwhelmed area-washes, creeks, and roads. A 48-year-old El Segundo man, Joo Hwan Lee, was killed when his vehicle went off a mountain road and into a creek Sunday.

Forecasters said that at times the rain was likely so thick, drivers would have been unable to see far in front of them.

Residents said they couldn’t believe the storm’s fury.

At Forest Falls, Doug Roath, 48, recalled hearing a roar above his house after a half-hour of rain. He evacuated to higher ground and brought a family of nearby hikers with him. From above, they watched the rocky slurry crash into his home.

“It had us surrounded. These people had two little kids with them and asked if they were going to die,” he said. “My doghouse with my dogs in it was just spinning in a whirlpool.”

Roath rescued the dogs when the flood eased. He spent Monday sifting through the sediment, picking up belongings. Community members helped him dig out, and town residents have offered him financial help and housing.

The storm was the product of an “orographic flow” — when moisture-saturated air is pushed up by a mountain’s natural topography and is squeezed like a sponge. A wave of tropical air blown north from Central America gave the storm extra ammunition, climatologists said.

Photo via WikiCommons

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California Storm: Crews Work To Clear 4 Walls Of Mud That Cut Off Town

California Storm: Crews Work To Clear 4 Walls Of Mud That Cut Off Town

By Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of residents in Forest Falls in San Bernardino County remained stranded Monday morning as crews worked to clear the last of four mud walls caused by flash floods over the weekend that cut the town off.

“It’s like somebody threw a huge mud ball on the town and it’s just sitting there,” said San Bernardino County firefighter Ryan Beckers. “It’s one road in, one road out.”

On Sunday, a storm that hovered over Mount Baldy, Forest Falls, and a few other communities managed to pour several inches of rain onto the area, triggering mudslides and overflowing creeks and washes that sent campers and locals running for higher ground.

In Forest Falls, mudslides as high as 10 feet cut across Valley of the Falls Drive, which connects the town to Highway 38. Even when rain doesn’t fall directly onto the secluded town, its placement next to a creek and at the foot of three mountain peaks makes it susceptible to floods and slides, Beckers said.

Dozens of homes sustained damage, mostly from water and mud, but determining the severity of the damage to each home and final costs to the community could be days away, officials said.

In the history of floods to the area, “this was one of the bigger ones,” Beckers said.

At least one car was overturned, but no one was inside. Several power poles were tipped over and put slack into power lines, forcing utility workers to cut power to the lines so cleanup crews could clear the debris.

In terms of the potential for disaster, Beckers said they counted the community’s response to Sunday’s downpour a success. Locals were mostly prepared and camp employees kept visitors from panicking, he said.

Still, the flash flooding killed one person on Mount Baldy when his vehicle spilled off a mountain road and into a creek. The man was identified Monday as 48-year-old Joo Hwan Lee of El Segundo, Calif.

On Monday, crews were sweeping through the mountain communities to assess the damage. At Mount Baldy, one home suffered major damage and four sustained moderate damage, said San Bernardino County firefighter Chris Prater.

Several propane tanks were also dislodged and leaked fuel but were contained before any significant incident occurred, Prater said.

The thunderstorm system was expected to move out and into Central and Northern California on Monday, bringing with it the threat of lightning, which has been blamed for sparking dozens of destructive wildfires in recent weeks.

Photo via WikiCommons

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