STORM HITS L.A. HARD FLOODS, OUTAGES, MUD - AND THE WORST MAY BE YET TO COME.Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer Torrential downpours were expected to slam Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, again tonight as already drenched drench tr.v. drenched, drench·ing, drench·es 1. To wet through and through; soak. 2. To administer a large oral dose of liquid medicine to (an animal). 3. residents braced for more of the same: flooded roadways, toppled trees, power outages This is a list of famous wide-scale power outages. 1965
The storm brought more than 2 inches of rain to parts of 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 packed nearby mountains with up to 26 inches of snow by Saturday afternoon - more than three times the region's normal daily precipitation levels. The worst of the Pacific storm was expected to hit tonight, with more than 2 to 4 inches of rain expected to fall in the region as the system intensifies and passes over Southern California. ``We could set a new rainy season record,'' predicted Jayme Laber, a spokesman for the National Weather Service. With 28.12 inches of rain recorded since the season began on July 1, this season already is the fourth wettest season in the past 100 years. That record is 33.4 inches that fell in the 1997-98 season. In the 24 hours leading up to 5 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service reported 2.27 inches of rain falling in Woodland Hills, 1.82 inches in Northridge, 1.36 inches in Chatsworth, 1.86 inches in Van Nuys and 2.91 inches in Burbank. The weather service issued a flood watch through Tuesday for Ventura and Los Angeles counties. On Saturday, fire officials advised voluntary evacuations for dozens of residents along the foothills, and more evacuations could come, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Mountains and hillsides are already saturated, and authorities aim to avoid last month's tragedy in which a massive mudslide killed 10 people in La Conchita. ``Our focus is just on saving lives,'' Humphrey said. In Ventura and Los Angeles counties, search and rescue crews as well as extra helicopter crews were monitoring flood channels and areas prone to mudslides. In Diamond Bar, at least two homes were red-tagged after being covered in mud and several others were threatened in Culver City. Several residents in the Sunland-Tujunga area were ordered to leave their home Saturday afternoon after slides pushed mud into their living rooms. Also worrisome for officials are areas swept by wildfires and left vulnerable to mudslides in Ventura County and the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. . Saturday's on-and-off downpours caused widespread roadway flooding, turning intersections like Tujunga Avenue and Penrose Street in Sun Valley into shallow ponds. Amtrak Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more than two decades of continuous operating deficits by privately run officials on Friday closed commuter rail services between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara after a rain-triggered mudslide near Moorpark made the tracks impassable. Officials said the line would be suspended through Monday. And auto collisions on wet roadways soared. ``When it rains, there are triple the number of accidents; people still think the speed limit is 65 miles per hour and it's not. They have to drive to the prevailing conditions of the roadway,'' warned officer Tariq Johnson, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. Six passengers on a charter bus carrying hearing-impaired Chinese tourists and four others were injured about 3 p.m. Saturday after the bus hit a white Cadillac SUV along a rain-slicked Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks, the CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan reported. The heavy rains also caused a massive sinkhole sinkhole or sink or doline Depression formed as underlying limestone bedrock is dissolved by groundwater. Sinkholes vary greatly in area and depth and may be very large. along the 8000 block of Tujunga Avenue in Sun Valley, while police were forced to close a stretch of Burbank Boulevard along the Sepulveda Basin indefinitely. The CHP also temporarily closed flooded freeways. A one-mile stretch 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 Commerce was closed in both directions for several hours Saturday morning as well as the Sepulveda Boulevard on-ramp to the 105 Freeway near Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX . More than 117,000 Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. customers lost power Saturday, with most of the outages in the San Fernando Valley region occurring in Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. In Hollywood, a shooting suspect used the rain to outwit out·wit tr.v. out·wit·ted, out·wit·ting, out·wits 1. To surpass in cleverness or cunning; outsmart. 2. Archaic To surpass in intelligence. police. Police responding to reports of early morning gunfire in the 1400 block of Cahuenga Boulevard lost the suspect in a car chase, after slowing due to slick roads. With helicopters grounded due to lightning and thunderstorms thunderstorms a storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; identified as agents of animal disease because of their involvement causing (1) spasmodic colic; (2) lightning strike; (3) injuries of cattle acquired in stampedes initiated by storms. , police were unable to track the suspect. Staff Writer Lisa Sodders contributed to this report. Rachel Uranga, (818) 713-3741 rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) A girl walks to her basketball game with plastic bags over her tennis shoes at the Sunland Recreation Center on a very rainy Saturday. (2) A vehicle lies on its side on the rain-soaked 210 Freeway near Ocean View Boulevard on Saturday. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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