Storm Moves Out, Cleanup Begins

The storm system that battered LA Sunday is moving east, but there's a chance of wet weather later this week

Spring got off to a stormy start in Southern California.

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Flood advisories were canceled Monday for Los Angeles County, but the weather service warned that debris flows and flash flooding in some areas were still possible.

The storm hit first and hardest in Santa Barbara County, where more than 10 inches of rain fell in the Lake Cachuma area, forcing the release of water from Bradbury Dam, county spokesman David Flamm said. The release was helping the lake level off, but heavy flow in the Santa Maria River brought the precautionary evacuation of 24 people in Guadalupe, Flamm said. They all returned home early Monday.

The 5 Freeway north of Los Angeles was shut down Sunday. The freeway reopened at about 9 a.m.

Rock slides in Malibu also closed parts of the Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Canyon Road, authorities said.

Sunday's storm was unusually strong for late March, said Stuart Seto of the weather service.

"Usually later in the year they kind of taper off,'' he said. "Old Man Winter, I guess, wanted to take one more bite out of us before leaving.''

There is a chance of thundershowers through Monday afternoon, then the Southland is expected to receive a break on Tuesday. There is a chance of more rain, but not as heavy, from mid-week on, with  temperatures below normal. 

Trees Down, Power Out in Valley Areas

In Woodland Hills, about 30 people were displaced when 12 homes had to be evacuated near 4855 N. Regalo Road, where debris and mud were approaching a retaining wall, said Diana Igawa of the Los Angeles Fire Department. No one was injured, and those displaced were taken to a fire station for shelter, Igawa said.

Nearby on Buenaventura Street, a tree and transformer went down, according to the Los Angeles Police Department Topanga station. Police also reported a mudslide in the 5100 block of Baza Avenue.

Officials from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported thousands of weather-related outages in the Southern California area, with most of the valley area being in the dark.

Also in the West Valley area, Vanowen Street was closed between Woodley Avenue and Hayvenhurst Avenue, Oxnard Street was closed at Donna Street and Balboa Boulevard was closed between Victory and Burbank Boulevards, said Officer Cleon Joseph.

"These street closures are subject to the amount of rainfall,'' Joseph said. "They will remain in place until the storm subsides.''

Sunday's preliminary rainfall totals:

  • In the valley areas, Newhall leads with 7.12 inches as of 11 p.m., Van  Nuys got 6.60 inches, Northridge 5.92, Chatsworth Reservoir 5.53, Hansen Dam  5.13, Canoga Park 4.72 and Burbank 4.02.
  • In the Los Angeles County Metropolitan areas, the Beverly Hills got 4.12  inches,  Monte Nido 3.98,  Getty Center 3.72, UCLA 3.24, Santa Monica 2.95,  Culver City 2.68, LAX 2.45, Redondo Beach 2.12, Hawthorne 1.86, Torrance 1.84  and Long Beach 1.20.
  • In the L.A. County deserts,Valyermo got 2.56 inches of rain, Palmdale  1.67 and Lancaster 1.41.
  • In Orange County, .66 inches have been reported at Fullerton Airport,  .56 inches at John Wayne Airport, .55 in San Juan Capistrano, .48 in Huntington  Beach,  .46 in Santa Ana, .41 in Dana Point, .27 in Costa Mesa and .09 in  Anaheim.
Copyright CNS - City News Service
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