A 4-foot high river of mud and debris flowed down from a hillside Friday morning and surrounded a foothill home after a storm system brought overnight rain and lightning to Southern California.
Mudslides, thunder and lightning, and hail storms were reported overnight as the fall storm moved through the region. The storm dropped much-needed rain across parts of the region Thursday night and into early Friday morning, but left at least one home surrounded by mud in Glendora below a hillside that burned during the Colby Fire earlier this year.
The Colby Fire restoration preparedness alert level was raised to yellow in light of possible flooding and mudslide danger. It came after rainfall rates reached the flash flooding thresholds for the Colby burn area at about 2 a.m. due to a strong thunderstorm.
A 4-foot-high flow of debris hit a residence in the 1100 block of Easley Canyon Road around 3:45 a.m., Los Angeles County Fire Department Supervisor Kyle Sandford said, with an earlier debris flow covering a vehicle in the driveway of the residence. Fire crews were trying to clear the mud, which was seeping into the home.
"Mother Nature, she's the boss," said Jim Gates, who owns another home in the area. "We've been here 15, 16 years or more. We've never had an issue. The fire hit, we have an issue."
The City of Glendora designated all properties north of Sierra Madre between the western city boundaries of Azusa/Glendora to the eastern boundary of properties on the western side of the Little Dalton Wash as having the highest risk of being impacted by flooding and debris flows from rainfall due to the loss of vegetation in the foothills. Rain-related parking restrictions were put in effect, and residents were directed to remove vehicles, trash bins and other obstructions from streets and travel lanes.
On Thursday night, Angelenos reported drizzle in downtown Los Angeles, North Hollywood, Brentwood, Westwood, Santa Clarita, and Woodland Hills, and others saw rain come down in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.
The rain made driving more hazardous than normal, with the wet conditions being a factor when a big rig crashed into a fire engine and two patrol cars responding to a three vehicle accident on the 210 west bound in Rancho Cucamonga at around 1 a.m. Friday.
A fertilizer truck also crashed just before 3 a.m. on the east bound 210 in San Dimas, which had been hit by hail overnight. Two lanes were closed, but expected to open at around 6:30 a.m.
Thursday night was mostly cloudy with lows in the mid to upper 50s. Friday was expected to start off with cloudy skies and a 20 to 50 percent chance of showers.
