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December 14, 2009

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Los Angeles: After the fires, the floods

ROCKS and debris trapped cars on roads in the Los Angeles area and fears of mudslides forced dozens from their homes as California was hit with a wintry storm that inundated lowland areas with rain and threatened the mountains with heavy snow.

Residents of 44 houses in a Los Angeles County area scorched by a recent massive wildfire remained evacuated as a precaution against landslides while the rain continued.

Parts of a 20-kilometer stretch of the Angeles Crest Highway just north of Los Angeles were buried by mud and rock on Saturday, leaving 90 vehicles stranded as authorities closed the road and crews cleared the scene, said county fire Captain Frank Reynoso. No injuries were reported.

Seventy of the stranded vehicles had been freed by Saturday night, but another 20 would be forced to remain overnight, authorities said.

About 50 of the stranded motorists gathered at Newcomb's Ranch Restaurant off the highway.

"Everybody was just looking to get down off the mountain," restaurant manager Mike Noxin said.

Several small slides were reported on the highway between La Canada Flintridge and Mount Wilson, and the road was to remain closed indefinitely, the California Highway Patrol said.

Debris flows can occur because the ground in recently burned areas has little ability to absorb rain, which instead instantly runs off, carrying ash, mud, boulders and vegetation.

Flooding shut down a 5-kilometer section of the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, authorities said yesterday. About 16,000 utility customers in Southern California were sporadically without electricity because of downed power lines.


 

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