Published: January 12,2017
Heavy rainfall that brought days of headaches to Northern California has moved into the southern portion of the state, and although the precipitation is much-needed, it has come with serious consequences.
Debris flows and flooding have been reported in parts of Southern California, and authorities have been busy clearing roads and warning residents about possible dangers that have come with the rain. Mudslides were reported by the National Weather Service Thursday afternoon in Villa Park and Crestline, and officials warned the most vulnerable areas could be locations where recent wildfires left burn scars, searing all vegetation from hillsides and leaving nothing to hold back the mud and rocks when the rain falls.
Flooding was the other concern in Southern California. A Kern County Sheriff's Office helicopter spotted an elderly woman stuck in a pickup truck in the middle of rushing floodwaters Wednesday and quickly came to the rescue.
The sheriff's office told the Associated Press the Air-5 chopper was flying over a flooded area to assess damage Tuesday when they saw the woman stuck on a flooded road near the town of Twin Oaks. A deputy waded through knee-high water and carried the 85-year-old woman from the truck to safety.
(FORECAST: Heavy Rain Winds Down in California, Nevada)
Laurel Canyon Boulevard was shut down from Gould Avenue to Kirkwood Drive after a concrete patio slid down a Hollywood Hills hillside, according to KTLA.com.
The estimated 9,000-pound slab fell down the rain-soaked hillside Wednesday and ended up on the street. Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart says heavy rains caused some ground to slide off the hillside, but it's unclear whether that caused the collapse.
No injuries have been reported and the home's renters were evacuated from the residence.
"When we've had rain of this magnitude we've had hillsides that are steep like this, such as a Laurel Canyon, undermined by sloughing of the earth," Los Angeles Fire Department representative David Ortiz told ABC 7. "There was no debris flow in this case, but there's obviously a lot of the earth that is still moving. You can walk over there and hear a lot of the rocks rolling down the hillside and a lot of the roots cracking."
The house, which was built in 1925, has been red-tagged and may not be occupied, according to officials.
Evacuations Concerns Continue in Northern California
The Sacramento Bee reported Thursday afternoon that a levee failure was possible at Sacramento County's Lost Slough, and residents in the area were asked to prepare for an evacuation. An emergency shelter was set up, but officials were still trying to determine the likelihood that the levee would fail, as well as what the consequences would be, the report added."If you are a rancher and have animals on your property now is the time to start moving your animals and livestock to higher ground ... just in case this levee does fail," Mary Jo Flynn, Sacramento County's emergency operations coordinator, said in a live Facebook video broadcast.
Rising waters breached a levee on the Mokelumne River north of Thornton midday Wednesday, but Sacramento Emergency officials told FOX40 that most of the water spilled into unoccupied farmland.
Crews using boats rescued about 50 people Wednesday after they became trapped by flooding from a quickly rising creek in the small rural city of Hollister. A two-lane stretch of road called Lovers Lane was deluged by the water. According to KTVU, dozens of residents, including a man who had just had surgery and couldn't walk out of his home, were rescued.
A tornado touched down north of Sacramento early Wednesday morning and hundreds of residents were advised to flee their homes Tuesday as more incoming rain and snow threatened to cause major problems in California.
Some 2,000 residents in the city of Wilton, where the rising Cosumnes River was likely to spill over a levee and flood parts of the rural town of about 5,000, were told to leave their homes Tuesday during the daytime hours, the Sacramento Bee reported.
"It's just a lot of water," San Benito County Emergency Services Manager Kevin O'Neill told the AP. "Fields that look like lakes. The ground just can't soak it up. Vehicles that are partly submerged, homes have water damage."
(MORE: Storms Topple a California Icon)
Near Los Angeles, the sheriff's department's air rescue helicopter was making flights to rescue homeless who were caught camping or hiking in the city's normally dry waterways.
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF0 tornado touched down in the South Natomas neighborhood north of Sacramento early Wednesday morning.
No injuries have been reported, but the small twister caused tree and fence damage in the area, CBS Sacramento reports.
On the Sacramento River, the gates of the Sacramento Weir were opened early Tuesday to direct water through the Sacramento and Yolo bypasses, alleviating some of the flooding concerns, the AP reported. The dam has been in operation for more than a century, the report added, but its gates were last opened in December 2005 – a sign of just how long the state's extreme drought has lasted.
Storm Claims 5 Lives
The flooding rains, which have shut down roadways and created hazardous travel conditions, have killed at least five people in California this week, and officials have identified all five victims.- The body of Jose Enrique Hernandez, 20, was found in his vehicle Monday after he crashed into a creek in the Hicks Valley area, the Marin Independent Journal reported. The car was found upside down, submerged in about 4 feet of water, the report added.
- Karlos de la Torre, 29, of Fremont died Sunday morning in a crash along Interstate 880, according to the East Bay Times.
- A cab driver died Sunday after his vehicle slid off a rain-slicked road into the estuary near Oakland International Airport along Doolittle Drive at Langley Street, SFGate reported. Rescue crews found Jarnail Singh, 57, alive but unconscious, and he later died at a nearby hospital, according to the East Bay Times.
- On Saturday, a 20-foot tree fell in 50 mph winds at Canyon Lakes Golf Course in San Ramon, ABC 7 News reported, striking and killing the woman as she walked on the golf cart trail with her husband. The Contra Costa County coroner's office told San Ramon Patch that the victim was 56-year-old Deborah McKeown.
- Also on Saturday, slick roads apparently caused the death of 21-year-old Andrew Manion on eastbound Interstate 80 in Pinole, KTVU.com reported. He was killed in a single-car crash when his vehicle collided with a tree, the report added.
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