If you’re planning to drive around the Antelope Valley Sunday, better check first with local authorities to find out which roads may still be closed due to recent flooding that produced mud and rock slides and trapped a number of vehicles.
Things were so bad that a Los Angeles County supervisor said he’ll ask for a state of emergency at Tuesday’s upcoming board meeting.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has released the locations of road closures throughout the Antelope Valley due to the recent floods.
There will be hard closures on Elizabeth Lake Road, between City Ranch Road and Godde Hill, and between Lookabout and Lake Hughes roads, said Deputy Jodi Wolfe of the sheriff’s Palmdale station.
There will also be a hard closure on Munz Ranch Road, between Lancaster and Elizabeth Lake roads, Wolfe said.
Residents with identification may use Godde Hill from Avenue N to Elizabeth Lake Road. Once on Elizabeth Lake Road, the California Highway Patrol will escort vehicles, she said.
Those closures, as well as ones by the CHP, were announced Saturday, so drivers were urged to find out if there had been any changes overnight for the remainder of the weekend.
The CHP also announced soft road closures for the following areas: 90th Street West and Elizabeth Lake Road; Johnson Road at Elizabeth Lake Road; San Francisquito Road at Spunky Canyon Road; Bouquet Canyon Road at Spunky Canyon Road and Elizabeth Lake Road at Spunky Canyon Road. The CHP said officers will be escorting residents through soft road closures and that non-residents will not be allowed to pass.
During Thursday’s storm, flooding and mud flows devastated the Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth areas, where vehicles were trapped in mud and some houses inundated.
County fire crews helped some motorists escape their swamped vehicles and get to safety. Aerial video showed a recreational vehicle on its side, apparently swept off a road by a mud flow. Flooding and mud also damaged homes in Palmdale and Lancaster.
Rainfall records for Oct. 15 were set Thursday in Palmdale (0.94 of an inch) and Sandberg (0.65 of an inch), breaking the previous records of 0.04 of an inch and 0.15 of an inch, both set in 1935, according to the National Weather Service.
A record was also set at Fox Field in Lancaster, where 0.65 of an inch fell, breaking the previous record of a trace amount set in 2005.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he will ask his colleagues on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency for the areas of Quartz Hill, Leona Valley, Lake Hughes, Lake Elizabeth and surrounding areas.
—City News Service