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Evacuations under way for L.A.-area foothills LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — Homeowners in mud-ravaged foothill towns north of Los Angeles packed their cars and fled today as evacuation orders took hold and a new winter storm approached.Officials issued evacuation orders for 541 homes on the hillsides of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton and two canyons. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies went door to door, urging people to leave; those who refused signed waivers acknowledging they were aware of the risk. Weather forecasters issued a flash flood watch, beginning in the afternoon, for neighborhoods below steep slopes that were scorched by the fires last summer. Sheriff’s deputies have also asked residents to move their vehicles and trash cans away from the streets, where heavy rain on Saturday caused water and rocks to roar through, smashing cars and concrete barriers together. Many people heeded the warning, lugging clothing and backpacks to cars that rolled down roads already crusted with the remains of a weekend mudslide that damaged 43 homes. “They know what’s at stake,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Furman, who was taking a lap along the mud-crusted streets to clear out stragglers. “They’ve been through this before.” Lyn Slotky, 62, packed a red suitcase holding a change of clothes and her nervous Labrador into her Honda hatchback. “I’m just waiting for it to start to drizzle a little bit. Then I’m out of here,” she said. She wanted to be gone before new rain washed away huge banks of mud that have lined the streets from last weekend’s downpour. Slotky said she was afraid that the gnarled branches, boulders and bricks embedded in the mud would be a hazard as they washed down the street. She and her husband slept through the last flow, which swept covered her mailbox and those of her neighbors. Del Tucker, 78, and his 77-year-old wife Francis chose to remain in their home on a sloping street. “I don’t think the danger is that great or, obviously, we’d leave,” said Tucker, a retired geology professor. “That doesn’t mean we’re right. We could die.” Tucker said last weekend’s flooding was the worst he had seen since moving to La Canada Flintridge in 1962. The mud washed onto his patio and crept under his garage door. Tucker said he expected today’s storm to be milder and to cause fewer problems. The National Weather Service said there was a chance of thunderstorms that could dump more than 2 inches of rain in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, where debris basins overflowed and damaged homes over the weekend. The basins are designed to keep mud and boulders away from homes near the burn areas. About 300 trucks are being used to clear the debris channels. “It takes weeks to clean the debris basins out entirely. We’ve been working around the clock since Saturday, load after load after load,” said Department of Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer. “Hopefully this storm will be kinder to us.” The showers could put more pressure on the basins. Engineers have prioritized six of the 28 basins in the burn area, based on their size, current capacity and proximity to at-risk neighborhoods, Spencer said. |
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