Powerful rainstorm drenches Southland, triggering widespread flooding and debris flows
A powerful winter storm drenched Los Angeles and Orange counties on Thursday, pummeling the region with rain and wind that led to widespread flooding and debris flows while dumping as much as five inches of rain on the San Gabriel Mountains.
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The storm, laden with copious subtropical moisture, came ashore late Wednesday and by early Thursday had begun snarling the commute, soaking urban neighborhoods and highways and muddying swaths of rural landscapes, including some fire-scarred areas, that already have endured an unusually busy rainy season.
By midday, much of the storm’s force had made its way inland, said Kristen Stewart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Temperatures hovered in the 50s and 60s.
Another storm from the northwest was forecast to pass through the region on Friday, but would be less powerful Stewart said.
In Orange County, evacuation orders for residents of the Holy Fire burn areas in Trabuco Creek, Rose Canyon and Mystic Oaks and El Cariso had been lifted b 5:30 p.m. Earlier in the day, officials had shut down a stretch of Live Oak Canyon Road in Trabuco Canyon when the storm flooded the street, taking down trees and sending rocks and logs tumbling.
The system dumped 3.9 inches of rain on Yorba Linda, 2 inches on Newport Beach and 3.9 inches on Lake Forest, according to the National Weather Service.
Latest look at #TrabucoCanyon Rd at Trabuco Creek downstream of #HolyFire burn area – rising water level, large logs & debris, bending guardrails. @OCFA_PIO @KNX1070 @NBCLA @KTLA @KFIAM640 @CBSLA @ABC7 @ocregister @OCSheriff @KPCC @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/Q58wcTUw8s
— OC Public Works (@OCpublicworks) February 14, 2019
A 200-foot Orange County Flood Control District wall collapsed on Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, prompting authorities to close the roadway, said police Sgt. Jim Cota said. Elsewhere, Ortega Highway was closed at Gateway Place and Pacific Coast Highway was closed south of Warner Avenue in Huntington Beach.
In Los Angeles County, mud and debris flowed onto Topanga Canyon Boulevard, forcing a closure of the road between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive and leaving a number of motorists stranded. Flood waters also temporarily closed a long stretch of Carbon Canyon Road in Brea, as well as a series of streets in Burbank hillside areas.
Rock falls were reported in Malibu Canyon, where at least two vehicles were struck by the falling debris, but no injuries were reported.
The storm brought 1.7 inches of rain to Los Angeles International Airport, 3.1 inches to Pasadena, 2.3 inches to Long Beach and 1.6 inches to Woodland Hills, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm toppled a eucalyptus tree near Recreation Park in Long Beach. The tree took down a power pole and crashed onto a parked car, but fortunately, a woman inside was not hurt, said Robert Belcher of the city’s Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications.
Long Beach also saw minor flooding along the 710 Freeway, but it receded with pumping, Belcher said.
In the South Bay, the rainfall triggered the formation of two gaping sinkholes in the beach cities, but police said no one was hurt.
A 15-by-15-foot sinkhole appeared sometime before Thursday morning on a sloping residential street in Hermosa Beach, said police Sgt. Chris Alkadis. Crews covered the cavity on 35th Street at Palm Drive with a large tarp. Palm Drive was closed at 35th, and 35th was closed from Hermosa Avenue to Manhattan Avenue.
Later, another sinkhole formed in a center median on Artesia Boulevard in front of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. Artesia was expected to remain closed from Peck Avenue to Meadows Avenue for up to two days for repairs, police said.
ROAD CLOSED DUE TO SINKHOLE-Public Works is currently working on resolving a sinkhole which formed in front of Mira Costa High School. The road is closed on Artesia Bl from Peck Ave to Stanford – eastbound and westbound traffic lanes are closed. We will advise when road reopens. pic.twitter.com/gQ0xfN2Eds
— Manhattan Beach PD (@manhattanbchpd) February 15, 2019
Staff Writer Nathan Percy and City News Service contributed to this article.