California storm triggers evacuation in wildfire-scarred LA neighborhoods over mudslide fears

LOS ANGELES — A rare October storm arrived in California on Tuesday and threatened to pummel wildfire-scarred Los Angeles neighborhoods with heavy rain, high winds and possible mudslides. Some homes were ordered to evacuate.

Downpours were moving through the area early Tuesday, with drivers hydroplaning and some accidents reported on flooded roads.

A flash flood warning was in effect for part of Santa Barbara County, where the sheriff’s office issued a shelter-in-place order for an area that experienced a wildfire last year and was subject to debris flow.

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Rainfall amounts by Tuesday morning ranged from less than half an inch in Los Angeles County to about 1.5 inches in San Luis Obispo County, the weather service said.

“We’re very concerned about the weather,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference Monday night, explaining that strike teams, rescue teams and helicopters were all ready to respond.

The evacuations covered about 115 homes mostly in Pacific Palisades and Mandeville Canyon, both struck by a massive inferno in January that killed more than 30 people in all and destroyed over 17,000 homes and buildings in Los Angeles County. Wildfires can leave hillsides without vegetation to hold soil in place, making it easier for the terrain to loosen during storms.

Bass and other officials warned residents across the region to remain alert and stay indoors.

The worst was expected to arrive later Tuesday morning and carry through the afternoon.

More than 16,000 customers in Southern and central California had already lost power, according to PowerOutage.us.

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The storm could result in up to 4 inches of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office, which described it as a “rare and very potent storm system.”

Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge of the weather service in Los Angeles, said the storm could even bring a couple of tornadoes, and one major challenge is its unpredictability.

“The nature of this system is such that we cannot be certain about exactly when and where these impacts will strike, the exact details until right before they occur at the earliest,” he said.

Patrols underway and closings announced due to the storm

Teams from the Los Angeles Fire Department had started patrolling the area Monday night and a section of state Route 27, beginning at the Pacific Coast Highway, was closed in preparation for the storm, the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, said on social media.

The weather service also warned of high winds that could knock down trees and power lines.

To the north, up to 3 feet of mountain snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevadas.

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The Mammoth Mountain Ski Area said it was snowing Tuesday morning.

Heavy rain had already started falling Monday evening across much of Northern California, bringing some urban flooding around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gladstones Restaurant, located along the Pacific Coast Highway, said it was closing on Tuesday in anticipation of the heavy rains.

The Pacific Palisades establishment is located at an intersection that has experienced heavy debris flow during past rains.

In February, torrential rains unleashed debris flows and mudslides in several neighborhoods torched by the January fires.

In the community of Sierra Madre, near the site of the Eaton Fire, water, debris and boulders rushed down the mountain, trapping cars in the mud and damaging several home garages.

A portion of the Pacific Coast Highway by Pacific Palisades was submerged in at least 3 feet of sludge, and a swift debris flow swept a Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle into the ocean.

Concerns about post-fire debris flows have been especially high since 2018, when the town of Montecito, up the coast from Los Angeles, was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge blaze.

Hundreds of homes were damaged and 23 people died.

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Alaska and Arizona among other parts of US hit by severe weather

Elsewhere in the US, Typhoon Halong brought hurricane-force winds and ravaging storm surges and floodwaters that swept some homes away in Alaska over the weekend.

One person was dead and two were missing in western Alaska on Monday, while more than 50 people had been rescued — some plucked from rooftops.

Officials warned of a long road to recovery and a need for continued support for the hardest-hit communities with winter just around the corner.

In Tempe, Arizona, a microburst and thunderstorm on Monday dropped about a half-inch of rain within 10 minutes, the weather service said.

The storm caused significant damage, including uprooting trees that toppled onto vehicles and buildings, and dropping them on streets and sidewalks.

A business complex had its roof torn off, and thousands of homes lost power.