California Officials: ‘Evacuate Before It’s Too Late

 

Meteorologist (CBM) Ginger Zee at ABC News, New York posted the footage below of debris flowing in a California suburb.

Power outages have affected 10,000 Southern California Edison customers from Santa Barbara to Murrieta, the Rosemead-based agency reported.

Edison energy company spokesman David Song said many of the unplanned outages were weather-related.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported 14,000 homes without power including those in San Fernando Valley: 1,536 customers in Canoga Park, 864 in Encino, 615 in Northridge, 400 in Valley Glen and 197 in Winnetka.

“While traffic crashes have slowed down, we still have several SigAlerts in effect mostly due to big rigs, disabled vehicles and flooding in areas,” California Highway Patrol Officer Tony Pollizi said.

North of Santa Clarita, a mudslide occurred on Lake Hughes Road. Several cars were trapped, but no homes were threatened and no residents were evacuated.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered Friday morning in Monrovia after the NWS issued a flash floodwarning, meaning flooding and mud slides are imminent.

Monrovia officials went door to door to evacuate 200 residents after the NWS issued a flash flood warning in Monrovia, city officials said.

The evacuations cover Highland Place north of Hillcrest Boulevard, Scenic Drive, Lotone, Heather Heights north of Scenic, Avocado Place, 600 block of Hillcrest Boulevard and 900 block of Crescent Drive.

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An evacuation center was being organized at the Monrovia Community Center.

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR… SOUTHWESTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA… EAST CENTRAL ORANGE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA…
EXTREME NORTHWESTERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA…* UNTIL 100 PM PST* AT 1148 AM PST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED FLASH FLOODING FROM A THUNDERSTORM NEAR RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA…OR EAST OF MISSION VIEJO AND WEST OF MURRIETA. THE STORM PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING WAS NEARLY STATIONARY. HEAVY RAIN HAS DECREASED…BUT SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO ADD TO THIS FLASH FLOODING SITUATION UNTIL 1 PM.* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE FALLS BURN AREA LEADING INTO WESTERN PORTIONS OF LAKE ELSINORE AND LAKELAND VILLAGE.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…WATERSHEDS BURNED IN 2013 WITHIN THE FALLS BURN AREA ARE PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLASH FLOODS AND DEBRIS FLOWS FROM THIS RAINSTORM. STRUCTURES…ROADS…TRAILS…AND CAMPGROUNDS LOCATED ALONG DRAINAGES WITHIN OR BELOW THE BURNED BASINS CAN BE IMPACTED BY FLASH FLOODS AND DEBRIS FLOWS. THIS INCLUDES…BUT IS NOT RESTRICTED TO…THOSE NEAR HIGHWAY 74…AND ALL HOMES…ROADS AND STRUCTURES LOCATED BELOW THE BURN AREA ON BOTH SIDES OF GRAND AVENUE BETWEEN MACY STREET AND SANTA ROSA DRIVE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON POST-FIRE DEBRIS FLOWS AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU LIVE NEAR A RECENTLY BURNED AREA…GO TO LANDSLIDES.USGS.GOV/RESEARCH/WILDFIRE/RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS IN AND BELOW RECENTLY BURNED AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO HEAVY MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS WHICH MAY BLOCK ROADS AND
CULVERTS. POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS FLOODING AND PROPERTY LOSS COULD RESULT IN AREAS WHERE RUNOFF IS RESTRICTED OR BLOCKED.
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Original Story

Two inches of rain per hour are expected in southern California where some areas are under mandatory evacuations. Los Angeles suburbs Azusa, Glendora and Monrovia are at particular risk as a second powerful Pacific storm soaked hillsides left bare from recent fires.

Other large areas including Ventura County are under threat of tornados. Flash flood warning are also in effect for large areas, according to the National Weather Service.

Tweets about the storm include this from ProSurfTalk ‏@ProSurfTalk twelve minutes ago:

NOAA put the powerful storm into persepective with the map below.

Drought relief with a harsh twist

“It’s a little scary, but we want to stay,” said Yvonne Bobadilla of Glendora. “It’s hard to move with three dogs.”

Glendora and Azusa issued the mandatory evacuation order at noon Thursday. Then, a stronger Pacific storm system moved into the Southland late Thursday night and was expected to intensify through Friday morning.

“Even in the most minor amount of rain, our street floods,” said Jerry Nicholas of Glendora. “There’s a lot of folks here that are really scared.”

With 2,000 acres of mountain slopes near the LA suburbs denuded by the Jan. wildfire, officials fear a stronger storm could trigger a series of devastating mudslides.

“You’ve got a recently burned hillside here with limited vegetation and a very steep slope. It’s a recipe for what the experts say is potential for a great deal of damage,” Sgt. John Madaloni said to local news outlet KCAL 9.

The Colby Fire destroyed five homes and damaged 17 others on Jan. 16.

Despite sunny blue skies behind the first storm, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for about 1,000 homes in two of Los Angeles’ eastern foothill suburbs beneath steep mountain slopes the fire left bare.

The burn impact area includes homes north of Sierra Madre between the western city boundaries of Azusa and Glendora to the eastern boundary of homes on the west side of the Little Dalton Wash, near Loraine Avenue.

“These areas have the highest risk of being impacted by flooding/debris flows from rainfall due to the loss of vegetation from the foothills,” the city of Glendora said in a statement.

Residents were allowed to pack their belongings 8:00 last night, according to officials, but the city urged residents to leave the area as soon as possible.

Crews lined the streets with 10,000 feet of K-rails. Some residents chose to stay, despite the evacuation order.

The rain that passed through San Francisco earlier this week, caused over 100 flights to be cancelled. It’s possible that Friday’s storm will cause similar traveler inconveniences.

There’s a chance that small tornadoes could develop in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, according to forecasters.

“We’re going get more rain in the next 48 hours than we’ve seen in the past two years,”  NASA climatologist Bill Patzert told CBS News, before adding that the state’s drought will still be far from over regardless.

Flash flooding is also expected. The National Weather Service issued the following statement moments ago:

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 130 PM PST FOR
SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO AND NORTHWESTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTIES…AT 1106 AM PST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE THUNDERSTORMS NEAR HIGHLAND…OR NEAR REDLANDS…WHICH ARE LIKELY PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MMOVING VERY SLOWLY EAST.OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO SAN
BERNARDINO…RUNNING SPRINGS…MUSCOY AND CRESTLINEPRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS…URBAN AREAS…HIGHWAYS…STREETS AND UNDERPASSES AS WELL AS OTHER DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW LYING SPOTS.

“This storm is what I call a down payment on drought relief, but there is no quick fix for a drought that is this deep and this long,” Patzert said.

People are born with the innate desire to survive, but sadly, many in our increasingly dependent society look to others for relief and assistance following a disaster. The fact is that help from government, family, or neighbors is often unavailable when needed most, and in the end you may have only yourself to count on. Do you know what to do and how to do it if disaster strikes? 

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Source: ABC News

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