Horrific thunderstorms triggered mountain mudslides in Southern California yesterday, killing one person and trapping at least 2,500.
San Bernardino County Fire officials say one fatality was recorded after a body was found in a car that was swept into a flooded creek in Mount Baldy. Further east, flash floods brought thick debris flows that cut off access to two towns. Thousands of people were told to shelter in place in the county.
Officials said that several people had to be rescued from fast-flowing water and treated for hypothermia.
About 1,500 residents of Oak Glen, and another 1,000 residents of Forest Falls in the San Bernardino Mountains were unable to get out because the roads were covered with mud, rock and debris, authorities said.
The stranded include 500 children and adults who arrived at a Forest Falls campground Sunday morning.
“Our concern is that they’re isolated at that campground and no longer have access out of the mountain,” Kyle Hauducoeur, another county fire spokesman, said.
Authorities made reverse 911 calls to urge residents to stay put while crews clear the roads with bulldozers. The muck was so thick it submerged a van in Forest Falls, while on Mount Baldy water swept a hot tub into the road.
Flash floods led to the rescue of several people. Hauducoeur said a woman in Mount Baldy was rescued from her house before it was buried in mud. Four additional homes in the Bear Creek area were damaged by the debris flow, he said.
In the Angeles National Forest, a group of 4 or 5 people and a dog were airlifted to safety.
A U.S. Forest Service spokesman told KNBC-TV some campers had seconds to evacuate before a torrent of water washed their tents and belongings.
“It sounded like a freight train coming through,” Robert Ethridge said.
Monsoonal moisture brought brief but fierce storms to mountain, desert and inland areas. In and around Palm Springs, knee-deep water flooded city streets and stranded vehicles. In the city of Redlands, the storm downed a tree and knocked out power to a few neighborhoods.
The downpour dumped as much as 3 ½ inches of rain on Forest Falls, and nearly 5 inches of rain on Mount Baldy, the National Weather Service said.
