Latest storm brings tornado-like winds, floods roads and causes small mudslides in foothill communities [Updated]

 

The latest winter storm moved through Southern California with a wallop this afternoon, flooding roads, causing tornado-like winds in Ventura and Santa Barbara and causing small mudslides in foothill communities.

The storm brought winds of up to 80 mph and waves recorded at up to 20 feet. The brunt of the storm has moved to the east, but more showers and isolated thunderstorms are forecast through Friday.

[Updated 4:16 p.m.: Acting Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today proclaimed a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties due to the series of storms. In a prepared statement, Brown cited the loss of human life, injuries, flooding, heavy snows, loss of power and mudslides as reason for the state of emergency. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger  is currently in Washington D.C.]

Ventura County fire officials said that they had received reports that a tornado touched down in the eastern end of the city of Ventura near North Bank Drive and Montgomery Avenue, downing power lines and causing damage to cars, outbuildings and agriculture, as well as toppling a tree into a home.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash said officials are still assessing the damage.

“There is more than a mile-long path of destruction,” Nash said. “It’s a pretty serious situation.”

Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jack Richards said fire and law enforcement personnel were going house to house in two neighborhoods and an agricultural area.

Richards said police interviewed at least four witnesses who reported seeing a funnel cloud touch down. “It picked a Chrysler Sebring off the ground, it hovered for second and spun it around," Richards said. “It hit a tree and blew out the rear and side windows.”

He said it also uprooted some trees. “It plucked them right out of the ground like a eyebrow,” Richards said. “It also tore the roofs off some sheds.”

The National Weather Service has not yet classified the winds in that area as a tornado. The agency said a tornado watch had been issued for eastern Riverside County.

Southwest Airlines is suspending and canceling flights arriving and departing this afternoon at its airports in Burbank, Ontario, Orange County, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson, citing high wind conditions.

Flights at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Los Angeles/Ontario International Airport were suspended after 1 p.m., and airline officials said they tentatively plan to resume service at those airports after 6 p.m., when the current storm is expected to clear out. The majority of flights were canceled for the rest of today at John Wayne Airport in Orange County and at airports in San Diego, Tucson and Phoenix

At John Wayne Airport, Dartagnan Pendleton, 41, stared at the flight board, assessing his options. There weren’t many.

“Yeah it is a big deal,” he said. “My father is a quadriplegic and his wife is going away on business tomorrow and I need to be there to take care of him.”

He said he was considering taking a flight to Fresno on another airline or even renting a car in Orange County and driving to Oakland. “I don’t know whether I can get through on the 5” Freeway, he said.

Vincent Vancil, 34, was suppose to catch a 3:30 p.m. flight to Oakland, but instead found himself milling around John Wayne.

“If I don’t get home by tomorrow morning, my wife’s going to be upset,” he said. “She has plenty of things to do.”

The California Highway Patrol this morning shut Interstate 5 at the Grapevine because of heavy snow. The CHP also said road visibility was down to zero on some roads in Temecula. 

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for large swaths of Southern California. The worst of the rain pounded Orange County and the Inland Empire.

According to the agency, the barometric pressure at Los Angeles International Airport fell to 29.20 inches of mercury, breaking a record set in 1988.

The storm’s main front could bring 0.5 to 0.75 inch of rain an hour, forecasters said, warning of possible thunderstorms that could increase that figure to more than 1 inch an hour. The rain is expected to lessen tonight, but showers are possible Friday.

The weather service is warning of life-threatening mud and debris flows in areas stripped of vegetation by last year's Station fire. About 1,000 homes have been ordered evacuated.

Residents in La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta and Acton were told they may have to stay away from their homes until Monday, said Nicole Nishida, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. About 500 homes in those areas were under mandatory evacuation orders, and about 75% of residents had left their homes.

“That is a long time, but we want them to be safe,” Nishida said, adding that residents could be allowed back earlier.

Rain tapered off this morning in La Cañada Flintridge, but Nishida warned that the ground was still saturated.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” she said.

Evacuation orders were still in effect for 262 homes in south Tujunga Canyon, said Deputy Operations Chief Lt. Jeffrey Bert of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Residents were being escorted back on a case-by-case basis, he said.

“Some people might need medicine, but we strongly encourage people to stay evacuated,” Bert said.

On Ocean View Boulevard in the La Cañada-LaCrescenta area this morning, it was sprinkling lightly. Some L.A. County cleanup crews were mopping up minor mudflows and other debris from overnight runoff.

Officials are gearing up for mudslides that are predicted to hit the areas denuded by the wildfires; they also warned several hundred residents who opted to ignore evacuation orders that they should leave.

Debris basins and flood control channels in the La Cañada Flintridge, Acton and La Crescenta areas, as well as the Tujunga Canyon area, are nearly at capacity, which could cause mudslides if a hard rainfall occurs, said Gail Farber, Los Angeles County's public works director.

No major incidents of debris flows or runoff were reported early this morning, Farber said, but she warned that “the storm is not over."

About 3,000 customers in Brentwood and Koreatown did not have power this morning after their electricity was knocked out late Wednesday because of the storm, said officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, who also warned that the storm could down power lines, creating hazards.

About 5,400 residents in Valencia, Phelan, Chino Hills, Rowland Heights and Whittier remained without power this morning, according to Southern California Edison.

Scattered showers were reported this morning, the leading edge of the big storm. The rain caused numerous accidents, jamming the morning commute. In Long Beach, which has been hard hit by this week's rain, the mayor urged residents to avoid driving today if possible, and Cal State Long Beach was closed.

--My-Thuan Tran, Rong-Gong Lin II Andrew Blankstein and Amina Khan in Los Angeles, Sam Quinones and Jill Leovy in La Cañada Flintridge, Russ Stanton in La Crescenta, Mike Anton at John Wayne Airport, Jill Marie Jones in Costa Mesa and Tony Barboza in Long Beach

Photo: Mud flows between homes on Derwood Drive near Ocean View Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge.

Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[anon]

then again:

"The Strongest Storm To Ever Strike California?

The meteorological way to gauge the "strength" of storms is to use their lowest atmospheric pressure. By this measure, the storm currently approaching the central California coast is close to being the strongest storm to ever hit the state. The state's pressure record is 28.85 inches of mercury at San Francisco, set by another winter storm in January nearly 100 years ago. Currently (noon PT) the pressure there is 29.94 and dropping rapidly. Offshore, a buoy has measured 28.78. All-time lowest pressure records have already been broken on a city basis in Eureka, Fresno, and Bakersfield, Los Angeles, and San Diego."

http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?blog=weathermatrix&partner=accuweather&pgUrl=/mtweb/content/weathermatrix/archives/2010/01/the_strongest_storm_to_ever_strike_california.asp

[jewhader]

ham's curse is upon the world.

barry x is the vessel.

[TEUFELI]

You know what is behind all this???

Yep...Global Warming! (and by extension George W Bush...yep...all his fault) Better vote Democrat.

[Dano]

Splish splash LA's takin a bath!

[fascisti]

And in typical California fantasy fashion, the State Assembly held an emergency session and passed a bill requiring the mudslides to stop. Gov. Schwarzeneggar signed the bill. The State Democrat Party was perplexed as to why the mudslides didn't subside and blamed the Republicans and former Presidents Bush for the continuing devastation. They State Senate again was called into emergency session and passed a temporary $100 mudslide tax on all vehicles that had more than one tire. CHP was called in to enforce the new law. It was so successful that the state made the new tax permanent.

[Michael Svardh]

I lived in West LA in the 80's for a few years during a time when it snowed a 5 inches in the San Fernando Valley. You should be glad you only have a few weeks of this nasty wet weather every winter. In Western Washington we deal with this from mid-November through mid-March every year, if we are in a normal year. The waves off the Coast are 8ft in calm weather 30 ft during a normal storm. We have even resorted to planning for back up power during Thanksgiving because we know the power will go out. You will get through this too. Boots, a good Helly Hanson and a great attitude will see you through!

Take Care,

Michael

Hansville, Washington

[TravR1]

Worry not, we got all these great shovel ready jobs we can put to use out there

[Mark Sanchez]

The scariest part of this article is the phrase, "acting governor, Edmund Brown, Jr. God help us.

[Scramseigh]

I saw the headline about a "Mud Alert" and I thought that Pelosi must be campaigning again.

[TxVet]

From a Gulf Coast perspective, you are feeling "hurricane" like winds. Your winds are about a Cat 2. Hurricanes almost always form tornados along the rain bands.

[Faith]

Chastisements from our LORD AND SAVIOR.....
EZEKIEL 7:5 and MANY MANY MORE YET TO COME....

THE PEOPLES OF ALL NATIONS MUST REPENT FROM THEIR SIN......

OUR GOD IS FURIOUS--------- AND IS WRATH IS UPON UP

Haiti is was just the first...... Peoples there are in to Voodoo..... their faith is Voodoo.....Thou Shall Not Worship False GODS...............

PRAY FOR WORLD CONVERSION DAILY......... MANY INNOCENT WILL SUFFER OF THOSE THAT ARE CHOOSING A SINFUL LIFE....

STOP ABORTION....

" THOU SHALT NOT KILL"

" I KNEW YOU BEFORE YOU WERE IN YOUR MOTHERS WOMB"

YOU MUST TAKE ALL THE LIVING WORD OF GOD SERIOUSLY....
NOT JUST WHAT YOU WANT............

[kem]

Refusing to allow thinning brush and removing dead trees lead to wildfires. Wildfires destroy ALL growth and lead to floods. DUH. I have no sympathy for those who refuse to think.

[Dave]

Year after year California goes through the same cycle of rain, mudslides, winds, and wildfires, and then the cycle starts again... WHEN will CA learn tp prepare for what's to come?

Every year, personal loss, lost revenue, state of emergency declaired, then everyone moves back, and the cycle begins anew...

Previous CA resident.

[Stephen VanDyke]

These guys who are putting up channeling fences (boards and barriers) for the mud and water are brilliant to the extent that they can direct the path of disaster. But I have to ask: why in the world would you want to settle down and live in the middle of a naturally occuring danger? Is there some kind of thrill that I'm missing?

[Kristy]

Sorry to hear such sad and tragic news..However, Dont know who's going to help out there..since all our resources are in Haiti now, along with millions of dollars..
Let's see if your President helps you out...like you did with electing him.

[G. anthony]

Where's the state of emergency for Northern California mountain towns? Fourth day with no power, gasoline, groceries, propane or ability to obtain basic services. No Red Cross. 22 degrees outside; 8 feet of snow. Life is at a standstill up here. PG&E's recorded message says prepare to be without power "indefinitely". Chester, CA

[LaVie]

Some areas should not be developed.

[ed]

CA needs to be washed away! I lived there for 10 years, paid high taxes, sat in hours upon hours of traffic a day and for what? A half-baked state government that continues to take and take, and not give anything back. The luster of CA is over in my opinion and I've pulled everything out that state, including all 80 employees. Not one single employee refused to move. Here's a new campaign slogan for the new governer: CTRL-ALT-DEL CALIFORNIA.

[TSteaks]

Breaking news: The Federal 9 circuit court just issued an emergency ruling that any use of the word "god" when describing the mudslides or when asking for assistance in ending them, is unconstitutional.

[Andrew]

Every day, all around the world, weather records will be broken. "Highest", "lowest", "driest", "wettest", "warmest", "coldest", etc, etc, etc.

So this one happens where there are people. Cue the global warming alarmists, the global cooling alarmists and the bible bashers. Either we did it, or the sun did it, or the god did it.

Nope. In fact this sort of thing is the normal result of what is almost a statistical certainty - called "weather."

[Oz]

Seems the Drudgtards are hitting the boards with their witlesscisms.

[HEHE]

I don't understand, if Katrina was Bush's fault why isn't this the Jerkinator's fault? I mean, he is a Republican and Republicans want to destroy the environment. Everyone in California knows that.

[james r]

This weather would be no big deal if people didn't build in awful places.

Part of the problem on the West Coast is that people are permitted to build on unstable hills where no sane person should. Insurance companies cover much of the loss and the government cleans up or stems the damage, so then more people feel they can do it at no real risk, etc...

[midwest]

Better a Drudgetard than a KosTurd

[so upset]

I just saw the news and I am shocked and very sad. I cant believe the people were not told to leave in flintridge.
Atleast no one was hurt,Lucky break. My heart goes out to the people of flintridge and they are in our prayers.