Southern Californians recount harrowing mudslides during deadly record-breaking storm
A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, is moving out of the region after a final drenching
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jesus Barron answered his wife’s panicked phone call warning him that a mudslide was smashing into their bedroom in the hills of eastern Los Angeles County. Then, the line went dead.
“She called me and told me the mountain was coming down,” he recalled Wednesday. “I thought the worst.”
Wendy Barron escaped their Hacienda Heights home during Tuesday’s historic downpours in Southern California, but it was seriously damaged when mud flowed down the hillside and blasted through the two retaining walls the family built when they moved in seven years ago.
“It’s not enough to stop Mother Nature, of course,” Jesus Barron said.
The storm fueled by the second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers to hit California in days came ashore last weekend in the state’s north before it moved down the coast and parked itself over the south for days, turning roads into rivers, causing hundreds of landslides and killing at least nine people.
The final punch came Wednesday afternoon and evening as heavy rain drenched the region. The forecast was for a potential dump of an additional 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) of rain in parts of Los Angeles and San Diego counties and snow and thunderstorms at higher elevations.
Winter storm warnings and advisories continued in Southern California mountains and to the north in the Sierra Nevada.
The National Weather Service said that around 4 p.m. Wednesday, there were reports of a possible tornado in San Luis Obispo County on California’s central coast. Authorities said either the swirling gusts of a tornado or severe straight-line winds toppled trees and power lines, tore up asphalt from streets and caused some building damage in Grover Beach and Pismo Beach.
A tree fell outside a Grover Beach tile and flooring store Wednesday afternoon, although owner Brittany Prince said she didn’t hear it go because of the wind.
“We looked outside and saw things blowing down the street,” she told the Tribune of San Luis Obispo. “I came out to go close the rollup door, and things were flying, so I just left it. I went back inside to make sure we were safe and then I looked out and saw the tree was down.”
The storm was expected to ease off again and move off Thursday or Friday, giving way to fair weather for most of the state by the weekend.
But even after the rain, authorities warned of the ongoing threat of collapsing hillsides. After all of the rain and snow of the past week, it wouldn’t take much for more water, mud and boulders to sluice down fragile hillsides, experts said. At least 520 mudslides have already occurred in Los Angeles alone.
Even before the evening drenching, the storm had dumped more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain in some areas, making it one of the wettest periods on record for the Southern California.
The Barrons’ home is too damaged for them to live in for the next few months, though the couple was able to retrieve some belongings. Now, they need to decide whether they want to return once it’s repaired.
“We love it here,” Jesus Barron said. “However, it wouldn’t be easy to go through this again.”
Jill Shinefield has lived in Beverly Crest, a neighborhood in the Santa Monica Mountains, for 23 years. She watched this week as her neighbors evacuated and other homes got damaged by mudslides. She chose to stay because her home is not up against the hillside.
“We have in the past been concerned about fires, but we’ve never even really thought about mudslides,” she said.
Around 430 trees fell in Los Angeles alone, the city said, and work crews have struggled to deal with the storm’s aftermath.
One tree that held firm helped protect a home Sunday night in the Studio City neighborhood. The carob tree and an SUV that had been pushed out of its parking space by mud blocked debris from crashing into Scott Toro’s home when a mudslide hit his community.
“The mud came down the hill and it stopped 3 feet (about a meter) short of our front door,” Toro recalled Wednesday as he cleaned up his yard. “It sounded like a helicopter crashing, or even a freight train coming through.”
Electrical outages on Wednesday had been substantially reduced from their peak levels, but there were still more than 71,000 customers without power, mostly in northern and central parts of the state, according to Poweroutage.us.
People were urged to avoid touching downed lines and to steer clear of roads that are at risk of flooding and mud. During the storm, at least 50 stranded motorists in Los Angeles were rescued from fast-moving swollen creeks, rivers, roads and storm channels, fire officials said.
Four of the nine people killed by the storm were hit by falling trees or limbs, according to Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Another died when power failed and she lost her oxygen supply, one drowned in the Tijuana River near the U.S.-Mexico border and three died in vehicle crashes, he said.
Atmospheric rivers also pummeled the state last year and caused at least 20 deaths.
This winter’s drenching does have a silver lining in that it helped boost the state’s often-strapped water supply. The water content of the vital Sierra Nevada snowpack jumped to 73% of average to date, up from 52% on Jan. 30, state Department of Water Resources data showed. The snowpack provides about 30% of California’s water when it melts.
At least 7 billion gallons (26.5 billion liters) of storm water in Los Angeles alone were captured for groundwater and local supplies, the mayor’s office said. Just two years ago, nearly all of California was gripped by a devastating drought that strained resources and forced water cutbacks.
As the latest weather front moved east, it prompted warnings across the state line in Arizona, where 12.4 inches (31 centimeters) of snow that fell at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport tied a record set in 1901.
Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and John Antczak in Los Angeles, Julie Watson in San Diego, Walter Berry in Phoenix, and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, contributed.
People walk in the rain past the Fox Theater before the premier of Bob Marley: One Love Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.
Trucks drive down a flooded street, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Lakeside, Calif. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county including Lakeside.
Workers survey a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles.
Prentice Sinclair Smith a friend of home owner Dion Peronneau says she was awoken by the sound of cracking around 4 a.m. early morning Monday, as mudflow forced its way into her home in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed more than 300 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet.
A mudslide scarred hillside is shown in the backyard of a home, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. The mudslide occurred early Monday morning, Feb. 5.
Home owner Dion Peronneau recounts, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, how she was awoken by the sound of cracking around 4 a.m. Monday morning, Feb. 5, as a mudflow forced its way into her home early in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles.
A property sits destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles.
City workers help to remove a eucalyptus tree that fell onto a house and over power lines along Bundy Drive in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed nearly 400 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet.
A grand piano lays upside down at a property destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles.
City workers help to remove a eucalyptus tree that fell onto a house and over power lines along Bundy Drive in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed nearly 400 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet.
A couple walk in the rain with their dog along the Huntington Beach Pier on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Huntington Beach, Calif.
A geologist surveys a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles.
Vehicles drive on California State Route 163 over a flooded street Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in San Diego. The National Weather Service issued a brief tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county. The warning was cancelled shortly after it was issued, with forecasters explaining that the storm no longer appeared capable of producing a twister even if it briefly turned some San Diego streets into rivers.
Clouds form over downtown San Diego, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in San Diego. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of East San Diego county.
A gas station attendant walks past gas pumps on a flooded street, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Lakeside, Calif. A rare tornado warning was briefly issued for parts of San Diego County, including Lakeside.
California Department of Corrections prisoners help sandbag homes along Gotera Drive in the Hacienda Heights section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
California Department of Corrections prisoners help sandbag homes along Gotera Drive in the Hacienda Heights section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
In this photo provided by Big Bear Mountain Resort, snow covers a number of tables at the resort in Big Bear Lake, Calif., Tuesday Feb. 6, 2024. The resort has received three feet of new snow over the last week, with some of the heaviest periods of snowfall occurring last night.
In this photo provided by Big Bear Mountain Resort, people are surrounded by snow while riding a lift in Big Bear Lake, Calif., Tuesday Feb. 6, 2024. The resort has received three feet of new snow over the last week, with some of the heaviest periods of snowfall occurring last night.
A man shields himself from the rain as he walks along the Huntington Beach Pier on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Huntington Beach, Calif.
A property sits destroyed by a mudslide during a storm, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Glen area of Los Angeles.
A local resident checks the damage to her neighbor’s house after heavy rains and mud flows caused it to slide down from the hill in the Beverly Glen section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
A damaged Acura SUV sits under a collapsed carport that was red tagged after mud flows caused by heavy rains destroyed homes in the Beverly Glen section of Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Jesus Barron looks at the damage, created by a mudslide, in his backyard, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, Calif.
A piano lies in the remains of a destroyed home caused by mud flows during heavy rains in the Beverly Glen section of Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Jesus Barron looks at a mound of mud outside his window left behind by a mudslide, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, Calif. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Cars are seen buried by mud in the garage to a yellow-tagged home as sunshine peers through the clouds in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Cyrus Bakh makes his way across a mud filled street in front of his house in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Jesus Barron, top right, looks at the damage created by a mudslide on his backyard, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, Calif. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Jesus Barron looks at the damage created by a mudslide inside his home, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, Calif. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
The remains of a piano and a collapsed carport are what’s left of a house demolished by mud flows caused by heavy rains in the Beverly Glen section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
A Los Angeles County Building and Safety yellow tagged notice is posted in front of house covered by a mud flow after heavy rains in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Cyrus Bakh crosses a mud filled street in front of his house in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Local resident Dennis Hackle checks the damage to a mud filled street in his neighborhood in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
A local news photographer takes photos of a destroyed home and a collapsed carport what’s left by mud flows caused by heavy rain in the Beverly Glen section of Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Local resident Jill Shinefield points to a mud filled street in her neighborhood in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Jesus Barron looks at the damage created by a mudslide inside his home, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, in Los Angeles County, Calif. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Clouds in a weather system make their way past the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.
Cyrus Bach assesses the damage of mud flow to his house in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. A storm that parked itself over Southern California for days, unleashing historic downpours that caused hundreds of landslides, was moving out of the region after one final drenching Wednesday, but authorities warned of the continued threat of collapsing hillsides.
Clouds hover over the Los Angeles skyline, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in this view from Hacienda Heights, Calif.
A Caltrans snow plow clears snow from the I-8 at the Laguna Summit in Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego County, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4500 feet in the San Diego County mountains.
John and Annette Yeatman walk along Old Highway 80 Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Pine Valley, Calif. A storm dropped heavy rain and mountain snow overnight in San Diego County, then left behind scattered showers.
Sand bags are placed in the backyard of Jesus Barron’s home after a mudslide damaged the property, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Hacienda Heights, Calif.
A Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Ranger surveys storm damage Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles.
Vehicles in a neighborhood in Bellemont, Ariz., are covered in snow, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Parts of northern Arizona stretching southeast toward New Mexico were under a winter storm warning through Wednesday evening.
A winter storm dumped heavy snow across northern Arizona, shutting down parts of major roadways and schools across the region.
Westbound traffic moves on the I-8 at the Laguna Summit in Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego County, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4500 feet in the San Diego County mountains.
Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Rangers survey the damage to a neighborhood, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles.
Scott Toro, second from right, speaks with a Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Ranger as they survey the storm damage to his neighborhood along with rangers, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles.
Two people cross the Sunrise Highway in the Cleveland National Forest, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego county, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4,500 feet in the San Diego county mountains
Clouds clear over the mountains, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego county, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4,500 feet in the San Diego county mountains.
With a break in the cloud cover, the San Gabriel Mountains are covered in snow from the recent storms in an early morning view from the hills in eastern Orange, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.
Snow-covered mountains are pictured above Santa Clarita, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.
A man walks as he tries to pull two trucks out of the snow in the Cleveland National Forest Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego County, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4500 feet in the San Diego County mountains
A man connects a tow cable to a tree as he tries to pull two trucks out of the snow in the Cleveland National Forest Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego County, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4500 feet in the San Diego County mountains
A man stands in the snow in the Cleveland National Forest Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in eastern San Diego county, Calif. According to the National Weather Service snow level is down to 4500 feet in the San Diego county mountains
