Bill Patzert, climatologist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, said mudslides are par for the course in this region.
Patzert said the worst debris flows happen during an “atmospheric river event,” when 6-10 inches of rain falls in the course of two or three days. It’s fortunate, he said, that Tuesday’s mudslides weren’t preceded by more rain. It could have been worse.
Jan. 9, 2018, 3:22 p.m.
The concern over mudslides shifted to burn areas in Los Angeles and Orange Counties as the storm system that caused deadly flooding in Montecito moved east.
Flood alerts were issued for area burned by recent fires in Anaheim Hills and the canyon near Sylmar.
Jan. 9, 2018, 1:32 p.m.
A driver on the 5 Freeway says he looked out from his small Prius and saw a large truck come tumbling off the 118 Freeway overpass above.
Jan. 9, 2018, 12:58 p.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s work in the Santa Barbara County flooding began before sunrise Tuesday, when firefighters asked for help rescuing two people injured in a storm-related house explosion, officials said.
Area roads were buried under mud and blocked by big boulders. So a Coast Guard crew was dispatched about 6:15 a.m. from the Los Angeles/Long Beach base on an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter usually used for rescues at sea.
The crew hoisted two people and flew them to Santa Barbara Airport, where they were airlifted to a hospital for their injuries, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer DaVonte Marrow.
Jan. 9, 2018, 12:22 p.m.
Residents of Country Club Drive in Burbank were ordered to evacuate their homes Tuesday after heavy rains caused a morning mudslide.
Burbank police released a video of cars that were caught in the slide.
The mudslide occurred just before dawn along a stretch of Country Club Drive at the base of the Verdugo Mountains.
Jan. 9, 2018, 11:14 a.m.
Roadways around the perimeters of the Thomas and other recent fires have been closed due to mudflows triggered by heavy precipitation.
Jan. 9, 2018, 10:13 a.m.
Just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, Caltrans worker Demauriel Myles sat in his truck, parked perpendicular across Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Four signs that read “Road closed” formed an impromptu blockade just south of Grand View Drive.
Caltrans crews had started to dig out the mudslide using a truck with an attached plow, Myles said, but they were proceeding cautiously because Tuesday’s forecast called for more rain throughout the day.
Jan. 9, 2018, 9:32 a.m.
Jan. 9, 2018, 8:21 a.m.
The 101 Freeway was hit hard by flooding and mudslides as heavy rains slammed the Thomas fire burn area Tuesday morning.
The freeway was shut down in both directions for more than 30 miles in the Thomas fire burn area because of flooding and debris flow, spanning an area from Santa Barbara to Ventura, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Highway 33 also has been closed between Fairview and Rose Valley roads north of Ojai, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.