One of the strongest storms to hit the Southland in at least a decade pounded the region Friday, with high winds and driving rain felling trees and power lines, leading to localized flooding and prompting evacuation orders for residents of about 200 hillside-area residents in Duarte.
A 55-year-old man apparently suffered a fatal electrical shock Friday afternoon when a tree toppled amid heavy rainfall in Sherman Oaks and brought down power lines.
Officers dispatched about 12:55 p.m. to the area of Sepulveda Boulevard and Weddington Street on a report of downed power lines came upon the injured man, said Sgt. Barry Montgomery of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
Paramedics rushed the man to an area hospital, where he died, Montgomery said. His name was not immediately released.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported outages affecting roughly 61,000 customers as a result of the storm. The most-impacted areas include Del Rey, Sherman Oaks, Larchmont and Canoga Park.(See current outage map.)
Duarte officials initially ordered evacuations for about 180 homes near the Fish Fire burn area, but that number jumped to 202 homes by Friday morning as officials re-evaluated the potential impact of a storm expected to bring afternoon downpours of roughly an inch per hour.
Classes were canceled at Valley View School in Duarte in advance of the storm. An evacuation center was opened at the city Community Center, 1600 Huntington Drive.
“Evacuated residents are encouraged to bring medicines and any other items they may need for a minimum 48-hour period,” according to a notice issues by the city. “Meals will be provided to all evacuees and L.A. County Animal Control has made their mobile shelter on site for those that need to bring animals.”
Duarte residents were warned to keep vehicles, trash bins and other obstructions off roadways, and a series of streets were closed in advance of the storm. Closures were ordered at Royal Oaks and Greenbank; Bettyhill and Conata; Royal Oaks and Mel Canyon; eastbound Fish Canyon at Mel Canyon; westbound Fish Canyon at Mel Canyon, Mountaincrest and Deerlane; Brookridge and Tannencrest; and Sunnydale Drive and Westvale Road.
As of late Friday, evacuations had not been ordered beneath the Colby Fire burn area in Glendora, but officials issued a yellow alert, ordering residents to remove vehicles and other obstructions from streets to ensure they are not washed away in a mudflow or obstruct emergency vehicles trying to reach the area.
A flash flood warning was in effect for most of the day in Sand and Fish fire burn areas, affecting areas including Sylmar, Monrovia, Azusa, Duarte and Angeles Crest Highway between Mount Wilson and Mount Waterman.
As the rain grew in intensity, trees were felled by the combination of high winds and saturated ground. Los Angeles Fire Department officials reported at least three dozen reports of fallen trees around the city by 2 p.m.
Another tree fell onto a house in Northridge, another fell onto power lines in Valley Glen and another smashed into an apartment building in Westwood, narrowly missing a resident sleeping inside.
Los Angeles Fire Department said there were as many as 150 reports of electrical wires being downed in the city. Both the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison reported thousands of customers without power by late afternoon.
Streets were closed across the Southland due to flooding, making the afternoon rush hour disastrous for many motorists. The Golden State (5) Freeway was closed at Lankershim Boulevard in Sunland, where as much as 3 feet of water pooled on the roadway. The Harbor (110) Freeway was flooded at Slauson Avenue.
In Sun Valley, fire crews scrambled to rescue people from 10 vehicles that became stuck in rushing water on San Fernando Road.
The storm proved to be particularly brutal in the Santa Clarita Valley, where sheriff’s officials reported multiple power lines being down, and they warned people not to approach them.
“Unless you MUST leave home, STAY HOME,” sheriff’s officials in Santa Clarita posted in a message on their Twitter page. Santa Clarita Transit officials also reported disruptions in service due to flooding and road closures. Flooding was also reported on some streets near Magic Mountain Parkway in Valencia.
The Sepulveda Basin recreation area in the San Fernando Valley was closed early Friday afternoon due to rising water in the basin, and Caltrans officials reported a rockslide slowed traffic on the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway in the Grapevine.
Air travel was also in disarray, with hundreds of flights canceled at Burbank, Los Angeles International and John Wayne airports. At LAX, more than 300 flights were impacted. Southwest Airlines canceled almost all of its flights in and out of the area on Friday, along with some on Saturday.
A flash flood watch will be in effect through Saturday morning everywhere in Los Angeles County. In Orange County, a flash flood watch will be in force through Saturday afternoon.
Nearly 3 inches of rain fell in the Van Nuys area over a 24-hour period, according to the National Weather Service. A record 1.96 inches fell at Long Beach Airport, breaking the daily rainfall record of 1.81 inches set in 1980. A record 0.59 inches fell in Lancaster, breaking the 2005 record of 0.23 inches.
The rain intensified throughout the day, prompting the NWS to extend flood advisories for some portions of the county. Forecasters noted that as of 6 p.m., “the heaviest rainfall is now occurring across the eastern portion of the county, where a flash flood warning is in effect for rainfall rates exceeding one inch per hour. Doppler radar was estimating local rainfall rates up to 1.5 inches per hour across the San Gabriels.”
“Widespread roadway flooding is expected to continue through the evening hours, with localized flash flooding continuing with heavier bands of rainfall,” according to the NWS. “There will also likely be flooding of streams and creeks, with very rapid water flow through local rivers.
Heavy rain in the Antelope Valley will cause flooding of low water crossings along highways. Lastly there will be numerous rock and mudslides across the county, especially near canyon roads.”
The storm was particularly strong because it was tapping into a so- called atmospheric river over the Pacific, sucking up volumes of warm subtropical moisture, forecasters said.
The rain was expected to taper off Saturday morning, although showers and a chance of thunderstorms were possible through much of the day.
High surf is expected along the coast through Sunday as a result of a large storm-generated westerly swell, with the biggest surf expected Saturday.
“Large waves and strong rip currents will increase the risk of ocean drowning for swimmers and surfers,” according to the NWS statement. “Large breaking waves can cause injury, wash people off beaches or rocks and capsize small boats near shore.”
A spokesperson from the Los Angeles Fire Department could not be reached for immediate comment, but the LAFD tweeted that between noon and 4 p.m., firefighters responded to nearly 150 calls of downed power lines.
— City News Service