By Mia Alva
Outlook Valley Sun
With the heavy rain and snow over the weekend in Southern California, La Cañada Flintridge got its taste of the storm.
Residents have woken up to a winter wonderland.
“I have never seen this amount of snow on our mountains. It was years ago that I had gotten a photo with quite a bit of snow, but it did not extend the whole range of the San Gabriels as far as you could see,” said La Crescenta resident Susan Colosimo.
Caltrans District 7 posted on their social media sites on Monday about the closure of Angeles Crest Highway (Route 2) from 2.2 miles north of I-210 to Islip Saddle because of the snow.
“No plans to go up but may take a drive when things calm down a bit and when it’s safe to do so,” said Colosimo.
Mount Waterman ski resort in the Angeles National Forest reported 5 to 7 feet of snow on Saturday and more snow is expected but, is working with Caltrans to get the roads open. Call the snow phone at (818) 790-2002 for recorded information.
Snow is not the only thing that the city has seen. NBC Los Angeles reported on Monday that the heavy rains caused a mudslide in LCF, which destroyed part of a home in the 400 block of Paulette Place.
A 40-foot-wide section of the hillside came sliding down, as stated in a ABC7 story. Fire officials plan to watch the area if more damage comes in the next days.
Henry Narvaez, a public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said that building and safety department of LCF is now in charge of next moves for the mudslide scene.
Narvaez said that there are multiple reasons why a mudslide can occur, some include a broken sprinkler line, a broken sewage line, a broken domestic water line or a saturated hill.
He also added some advice for residents who live on a hillside, “Being vigilant and being aware of your surroundings, and having some situational awareness.” Even surrounding homes could affect other homes.
“The home that was affected in La Cañada took a direct hit from the home that was right above it. It did cause some substantial damage to the home. But there was also some … damage to the home to the right of it,” said Narvaez.
He also said that having an emergency plan and a pack with essential items is a great practice. He noted that in 2022 the Los Angeles County didn’t have any mudslides or landslides.
“Rain doesn’t bother us in the emergency setting. Now, the only concerning part is how much rain is coming and how fast,” said Narvaez, adding that knowing the rate of the rainfall changes the level of urgency.
City News Service reported that LCF had the second highest amount of rain at 9.29 inches among Southland cities.
For updates on road opening and closures, visit pw.lacounty.gov/roadclosures/.
