Expect no early relief from rainy weather

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Expect no early relief from rainy weather

 

By Christina L. Esparza , Staff Writer

 

Rain continued to pour on the San Gabriel Valley on Sunday, and rainy weather is not expected to let up until Wednesday, officials said.

 

One Diamond Bar home remained empty Sunday after a mudslide from the surrounding hills forced its occupants to evacuate.

 

Officials from the Los Angeles County Public Works Department were working from daybreak to midnight to unclog a drain that would relieve the water pressure on the unstable hillside.

 

Debris, which included piles of tree trunks and branches, swept into the backyard of one of the Diamond Bar homes on Bronze Knoll Road on Saturday.

 

"Even when they had the El Nino (storms) a few years ago, I don't remember anything like this,' Diamond Bar resident Don Frizielle said as he watched workers trying to clear out his friend's backyard on Bronze Knoll Road.

 

There hadn't been any other mudslides after the one Saturday, said James Kirkland with the Los Angles County Public Works Department's flood division.

 

"But if it continues to rain hard,' he said, "it will.'

 

The San Bernardino (10) Freeway was also suffering from unstable soil conditions.

 

A mudslide made its way to the freeway at Francisquito Avenue in Baldwin Park, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ryan Monahan.

 

"It just caused some major delays,' Monahan said. "Caltrans was able to keep it on the shoulder.'

 

The mudslide occurred about noon Sunday, Monahan said, and was cleared up about 7 p.m.

 

Showers are expected to pelt the San Gabriel Valley until Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

 

The seasonal rainfall total for downtown Los Angeles is closing in on 29 inches - about three times the norm of 9.5 inches for this time of year, causing this season to be Southern California's seventh wettest season on record.

 

Last year, only about 4 inches of rain had fallen by Feb. 20.

 

Forecasters with the National Weather Service expect up to 3 more inches of rain along the coast through Tuesday and double that in the mountains, said Curt Kaplan of the NWS.

 

"The next few days are going to be interesting and a potentially dangerous time,' because of the possibility of slides and flooding, he said.

 

The forecast puts the seasonal total on track to surpass the sixth wettest season on record: 1997-98, when Los Angeles got 31.01 inches. "In the next couple of days, we could jump up to fourth or fifth place,' Kaplan said.

 

About 6 inches of rain fell on the San Gabriel Valley from Thursday night to 4 a.m. Sunday and 4.06 in Whittier Hills.

 

In Long Beach, firefighters rescued a man caught in the Los Angeles River in South Gate; he was spotted behind Cudahy Park in Cudahy, and was rescued a short distance downstream near Firestone Boulevard, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Ron Haralson.

 

The man was taken to Downey Community Hospital with minor injuries to his feet, Haralson said.

 

 

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