MUDSLIDES TRAP 30 FIRE-RAVAGED HILLSIDES GIVE WAY AS RAIN SOAKS AREA.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer The first major Christmas Day storm in Southern California in 20 years triggered flooding and mudslides in fire-ravaged San Bernardino County, sending homes down hillsides and trapping at least 30 people in a campground. The storm caused sporadic power outages in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and throughout the Los Angeles area and twice as many vehicle crashes as usual, leaving freeways in gridlock for hours at a time. Concern was high for those trapped in a mudslide at Saint Sophia Camp, a retreat north of San Bernardino operated for more than 35 years by Saint Sophia Cathedral, a Greek Orthodox church Greek Orthodox Church Independent Eastern Orthodox church of Greece. The term is sometimes used erroneously for Eastern Orthodoxy in general. It remained under the patriarch of Constantinople until 1833, when it became independent. in Los Angeles. Nine to 12 of the up to 30 victims had been rescued from the deluge, according to The Associated Press. ``There are houses lost in Waterman Canyon,'' San Bernardino County Fire Marshal Pete Brierty said. ``We don't know how many. The water is almost pitch black with soot and mud. The mudflows have made it impossible to get vehicles into the area to assess the damage to people and property.'' Rescuers worked frantically to sandbag Sandbag A stalling tactic used by management to deter a company that is showing interest in taking them over. Notes: The company stalls in hopes that a more favorable company will take them over. raging waterways to stem flooding and to free those trapped at the camping grounds. Homes in the San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino Mountains, part of the Coast Range, S Calif., extending c.60 mi (100 km) NW and SE through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Notable peaks are San Bernardino Mt. (10,630 ft/3,240 m) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,485 ft/3,501 m). were evacuated. ``This is the first big storm we've had since the fire damage,'' said Cindy Beavers, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. ``There is potential for a very dangerous situation.'' Much of the flooded area was charred by the massive brush fires in October, which destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in the San Bernardino Mountains and northern San Bernardino. Numerous, less-serious mudslides were reported in the Los Angeles area Thursday, including some in the Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a low transverse range in southern California in the United States. Geography They run for approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. and hills between the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys. Caltrans was sent to clean up a mudslide that shut down two lanes of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. at Avenue N in Lancaster about 4:30 p.m. Freeways and streets flooded, sending cars careening The careening of a sailing vessel is laying her up on a calm beach at high tide in order to expose one side or another of the ship's hull for maintenance below the water line when the tide goes out. into guardrails and ditches and colliding with other vehicles. ``There have been a lot of crashes, a lot of spinouts and a lot of vehicles over the side,'' California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos said. ``People are traveling a little bit fast for the roadway conditions, anxious to get to their loved ones.'' It was a white Christmas on the Grapevine on Thursday evening, causing the CHP to run traffic breaks and provide traffic escorts starting at 7:30 p.m. Whether the pass would remain open remained up in the air Thursday night. One person died in a crash on the Santa Monica Freeway The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of Interstate 10, beginning at the western terminus of I-10 at the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the famous East Los Angeles Interchange. in West Los Angeles
Holiday traffic was backed up from Pyramid Lake to the San Fernando Valley around noon Thursday when a crash blocked two northbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. . In the Valley at 8:43 a.m. a multiple-vehicle collision tied up traffic for hours by blocking the three right lanes on the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. near the exit to the Ventura Freeway. Power outages in Chatsworth, Hyde Park and Koreatown likely were caused by the rain, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving 3.9 million residents in 2006. It was founded in 1902 to deliver water and electricity supplies to residents and businesses in Los Angeles. said. Power lines broke in the Chatsworth area, causing an outage between Parthenia Street to the north, Lurline Avenue to the east, Roscoe Boulevard to the south and Canoga Avenue to the west, DWP spokeswoman Marie Lemelle said. The last time rain had fallen in Los Angeles on Christmas Day was 1983, when 1.16 inches fell downtown. Rainfall was expected to be heavy at times, then taper off as the cold front moved east today. Bill Hoffer, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, said rainfall would probably amount to more than an inch through Thursday and that there could be intermittent rain through today. The mountains rimming the Valley were expected to be blanketed by snow. Temperatures in the San Fernando Valley area were forecast to be from the upper 30s at night to low 60s during the day. ``We've got a series of fast-moving cold fronts coming through,'' said Hoffer, who predicted partly cloudy skies Saturday and Sunday, then the possibility of more rain Monday and Tuesday. ``New Year's Day New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. should be partly cloudy,'' he said. In some areas, including downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or , reduced visibility from the storm and gusty winds tied up traffic. Statewide during this Christmas holiday period there were five freeway deaths, compared with two deaths over the same period last year, the CHP reported Thursday. In Los Angeles County, 42 people were arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday, down from 71 last year, Villalobos said. ``We don't get a whole lot of rain here, so people need to be reminded to alter their driving habits when it rains,'' Villalobos said. ``First and foremost, reduce your speed. Your car will lose traction a lot sooner on a wet roadway.'' Villalobos urged drivers to ``increase the space cushion'' between cars, and to avoid the outer lanes of roads, where water builds up. He also said dry, cracked windshield wiper blades can reduce visibility. Wire services contributed to this report. Andrea Cavanaugh, (805) 583-7604 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- 3 -- color) A front-end loader, top, clears mud from around a pickup trapped Thursday in a Lytle Creek mudslide. Rancho Cucamonga city employee Don Cue, left, piles sandbags sandbags small sacks containing sand used to support an anesthetized animal in dorsal recumbency and prevent it from rolling sideways during anesthesia or surgery. . Above, Craig Porter, Salvador Jauregui and Ulysses Terrones, from left, hike from Lytle Creek after water and mud forced them to abandon Porter's car. David Creamer/Staff Photographer Thomas R. Cordova/Staff Photographer (4) Rain reduced visibility, left roads slick and snarled traffic on Christmas, such as on the westbound 210 Freeway near the Mountain Avenue exit in Duarte. Richard Liu/Special to the Daily News |
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