State of emergency declared in 5 California counties as week of storms continues

Emergency declared in 5 California counties

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — A state of emergency has been declared in five California counties due to a series of winter storms.

Acting Gov. Jerry Brown proclaimed the emergency Thursday for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties.

Four powerful Pacific storms have caused several deaths, urban flooding, power outages and forced evacuation of more than 1,200 homes in danger of massive debris and mudflows.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) — Steady rain fell Thursday on saturated Southern California as the fourth Pacific storm in a week came ashore, triggering dire warnings by authorities that huge mud flows were likely in foothill communities and residents of endangered homes should obey evacuation orders.

Travel snarls mounted as a major highway was closed by snow and strong winds forced cancellation of flights at several airports. A possible tornado left a trail of damage in a community northwest of Los Angeles.

The siege of storms has led to several deaths statewide, street flooding in urban areas and turned the region’s often-dry river and creek channels into raging torrents.

Muddy water gushed down hills but there were no immediate major incidents, and officials appeared concerned the lack of massive debris flows from wildfire burn areas was misleading for residents.

“It’s time to roll, it’s time to evacuate,” said Los Angeles County Public Works Director Gail Farber.

County Fire Chief Deputy John Tripp bluntly warned that significant debris flows were likely and probably would block potential rescue attempts.

“For those people that are still in the homes and are in those areas of threat, it’s very likely we will not be able to reach you,” he said.

In the upper reaches of suburban La Canada Flintridge, where mountainsides rise sharply from the backyards of homes, authorities put pink ribbons on the mailboxes of residents who stayed behind so they would know where to search in the event of a catastrophe.

One person who didn’t leave was Delos Tucker, a retired geologist who has lived in the community since the homes were built in 1962.

“I’m just gambling it’s not going to happen,” he said. “Let’s hope I’m right.”

As an overnight lull gave way to more rain at midmorning, public works crews shoveled mud from yards, driveways and gutters along Ocean View Boulevard in suburban La Canada Flintridge. The neighborhood was otherwise all but deserted, with newspaper and mail deliveries cut off.

The county’s extensive flood-control system was working, but many of the basins designed to catch debris-laden runoff from fire-scarred mountains were full and evacuations remained necessary, Farber said.

The basins are located on streams and other water courses emerging from the mountains to intercept surges of mud, boulders and other debris while allowing water to flow into open channels and underground storm drains that empty into the ocean.

“We can thank a measure of luck and the flood control system … for working so well, however we can’t keep counting on luck forever,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Chief Neil Tyler.

The arrival of the new storm system shut down Interstate 5 in the snowy Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles for the second day in a row, interrupting travel on one of state’s major arteries.

A fierce wind struck two neighborhoods in Ventura, and witnesses described a tornado, police Sgt. Jack Richards said. Trees were toppled, cars were damaged and a shed was torn apart in a 1½-mile span through two neighborhoods. No one was hurt.

The National Weather Service said radar patterns indicated it may have been a non-rotating gust called a microburst, but it was still under investigation.

Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights in Southern California and Arizona due to strong winds and heavy rains.

Southern California Edison said near 11,000 customers were without power, and repair crews were having trouble reaching equipment in desert and mountain areas because of snow.

Since late Sunday, as much as 6 inches of rain had fallen in the mountains of Los Angeles County and more than 3 inches downtown, according to the National Weather Service.

Thursday’s storm was expected to drop 2 inches to 4 inches of rain in the drenched foothills and mountains, with potentially strong downpours and intense rain rates, said NWS meteorologist Eric Boldt.

Rain was expected to taper off by night, followed by showers on Friday and a dry weekend.

The major area of concern has been foothill communities along the perimeter of the San Gabriel Mountains, where a summer wildfire denuded 250 square miles of steep slopes northeast of Los Angeles.

The number of homes under evacuation orders has grown to more than 1,200 since the beginning of the week. Estimates of compliance have ranged up to 75 percent in some jurisdictions but down to 40 percent elsewhere.

Tucker acknowledged that with catch basins filled with mud, water and debris, things could become difficult. But he said he had seen regrowth in the fire-scarred hills and believed it would hold soil in place.

At one point he left to bring his wife back from a visit to their daughter and defied a deputy who threatened to arrest him if he returned to his house. The deputy didn’t follow through on the threat, and Tucker was not upset by the incident.

“They have to play it super safe,” he said. “Obviously there is danger of a major mudflow coming down from the canyon.”

Small battles to protect properties were waged throughout the danger zone.

In one La Canada Flintridge cul de sac, five men used shovels to keep a 3-foot-wide chocolate brown flow out of backyards and in a ditch running between two houses to the street.

“If these folks weren’t shoveling it out it would get a lot worse,” said county fire Capt. Scott Tolgar.

On the east side of the city, firefighters pumped water out of the backyard of an evacuated home off Angeles Crest Highway and began sandbagging to divert flow gushing from a canyon behind the property.

Neighbor Clint Watson was among residents who chose not to evacuate.

“If we saw the basin above us overflowing or our neighbor’s house started moving we would say it’s time to leave,” he said.

Kevin Varjavand also stayed despite flooding of his yard that damaged equipment in a shed.

“All my work, my papers are here. If everything goes I’d rather go with it,” Varjavand said.

Two people have been killed by falling trees, and police in Newman were searching for the body of a man who tried to drive across a flooded road.

In San Jose, a man died after falling 30 feet from the side of a freeway after he got out of a car that spun out in the rain and then jumped out of the path of an out-of-control car.

In San Diego, the Border Patrol said three people were rescued and treated for hypothermia after being swept away while trying to cross the storm-swollen Tijuana River from Mexico.

California State University, Long Beach, remained closed after some buildings flooded Wednesday.

The weather also forced cancellation of horse racing at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia and postponement of the second round of the Bob Hope Classic golf tournament near Palm Springs.

Sea World in San Diego was also closed due to severe weather.

Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.