Relentless, record-breaking rain keeping SoCal on high alert

Rainfall from a relentless atmospheric river storm has already smashed records in Southern California, but the torrential weather has not let up, with even more mud and debris flows inundating roads and forcing evacuations.

On the fourth day of the punishing storm, Hacienda Heights and La Habra Heights in eastern Los Angeles County became the latest hilly communities to see devastating damage from the historic rainfall.

Firefighters on Tuesday morning evacuated three homes on Gotera Drive in Hacienda Heights after a debris flow damaged at least one house, Los Angeles County Fire spokesperson Fred Fielding said. Nearby, an almost three-mile stretch of Hacienda Road in La Habra Heights was closed after a major debris flow swallowed much of the street.

Capt. Greg Terril of the La Habra Heights Fire Department said crews were responding all morning to various mudslides and debris flows, mostly affecting roadways. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area through 12:30 p.m.

When asked how many slides had been reported, Terril said, “not one or two, more like 15-plus.” The extent of the damage has not been fully cataloged.

On Tuesday, officials also warned of a possible tornado in San Diego County and flash floods across the region. Officials had hoped the worst of the storm system had passed after a trail of destruction from high winds and heavy rains blazed across the state beginning Sunday, causing widespread flooding and mudslides Monday that ruined homes and forced evacuations in parts of Los Angeles County.

But threats remained imminent.

“Do not let your guard down,” Ariel Cohen, a weather service meteorologist in Oxnard, said Tuesday during a briefing in Los Angeles. “There could still be some very significant impacts still to go.”

It will take “very little additional rain” to cause increased flooding or mudslides and debris flows, he said, and there are waves of rain still expected through the afternoon.

The atmospheric river has also taken a deadly toll.

At least three people in Northern California were killed Sunday by falling trees, according to state and local officials, as the storm initially hit the state with extremely high winds, especially in the coastal mountains — with gusts up to 90 mph, and in one case, over 100 mph.

Chad Ensey, 41, of Carmichael, in Sacramento County, suffered blunt-force trauma and died at a hospital after a tree fell on him in his backyard amid strong winds. In the rural Santa Cruz County community of Boulder Creek, Robert Brainard III, 45, was killed when a tree fell on his home. And in Sutter County, 82-year-old David Gomes was found dead beneath a fallen redwood tree in his backyard, authorities said.

Chances for more downed trees, as well as mudslides, road flooding and power outages are only increasing as the storm continues to dump rain on an already water-logged region. Since late Monday, up to 1.5 inches more of rain has fallen across the L.A. area, pushing tallies close to what is normally seen over an entire year.

Along the Santa Barbara County coast, firefighters in Isla Vista on Tuesday evacuated multiple apartment units because of cliff erosion as a coastal flood advisory and high surf advisory remained in effect through Friday. County fire officials said at least 45 residents had been displaced.

By early Tuesday, rain totals in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains had topped 12 inches in some areas, including Bel-Air (12.29 inches), Sherman Oaks (12.39 inches), Lytle Creek (12.22) and the Cogswell Reservoir north of Monrovia (12.36), according to the National Weather Service’s latest counts.

A new flash flood warning was issued Tuesday for northwestern Orange County, including Anaheim, Irvine and Huntington Beach, and for a swath of north and western Los Angeles County, including the Hollywood Hills, Griffith Park, Beverly Hills, Malibu and across the Santa Monica Mountains, as well as for a portion of southeastern Ventura County, as more moderate to heavy rain is again drenching the area.

Rainfall totals in the Santa Monica Mountains, largely considered the hardest hit by the storm, have averaged 7 to 11 inches since Sunday, with local amounts surpassing 12 inches, according to the weather service. In Orange County, urban areas have reported 2 to 5 inches of rain.

“Flash flooding, mud and debris flows, and landslide and rock slides have occurred in this area, and should continue through at least mid-morning,” the new warning for Orange County said.

Evacuation orders remained in place for parts of Shadow Hills, Topanga and near Agua Dulce, while evacuation warnings were still active for Juniper Hills, Duarte and near other wildfire burn scars that could give way to mud and debris flows.

The storm prompted a state of emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a declaration of a local emergency Monday to help the city respond to the storm.

Bass said Tuesday morning that more than 7,000 residents remained without power, noting that the city’s Department of Water and Power had restored electricity to 54,000. About 5,000 Southern California Edison customers were also still without power.

On Monday night, Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, said about 240,000 customers remained in the dark.

The rainfall has been record-smashing across Southern California, with nearly half the average seasonal rainfall falling in just two days, on Sunday and Monday, officials said.

“Rainfall in downtown Los Angeles on the 4th and the 5th [of February] totaled 7.03 inches,” an analysis from the National Weather Service said. “That is the third wettest consecutive two-day total since official weather records began in 1877 … and the highest two-day rainfall total for the month of February.”

The massive amount of rain, along with its affiliated threats, prompted officials to order the evacuation of some foothill communities, especially in the Santa Monica Mountains. Orange County officials issued evacuation warnings for some Santa Ana foothill communities late Monday. Residents are urged to avoid traveling on canyon roads.

As of late Monday, Los Angeles authorities had responded to more than 300 mudslides, with 35 homes or buildings damaged by debris flows, including five that were deemed unsafe to enter.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said Tuesday that crews remain active. She asked that Angelenos stay away from roaring rivers and washes after crews rescued a man from the L.A. River who jumped in to try to save his dog.

“The banks of the river are not the place to be during the storm,” Crowley said, noting that local rivers are still flowing with “high intensity.”

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the Police Commission, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that emergency responders were called to 136 storm-related incidents that resulted in an injury. The number of collisions peaked on Sunday, Moore said, though he noted there have been no traffic deaths.

The San Diego River at Fashion Valley is again forecast to overflow its banks, with the latest projections from the California Nevada River Forecast Center showing it peaking early Tuesday. Weather officials expect flooding around the river, near Fashion Valley mall.

In San Bernardino County, evacuation warnings were still in place for Forest Falls, Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks and Barton Flats. On Mt. Baldy, rescue teams continued to look for Ada Huang, a hiker who didn’t return home Sunday. Mara Rodriguez, a public information officer for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, said no significant damage or fatalities were handled in the county overnight.

“They will search as long as conditions are safe to do so,” Rodriguez said of efforts to locate Huang.

Winter weather advisories were also still in effect over the mountains of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, where snowfall could accumulate up to 3 feet.

Times staff writers Priscella Vega, Hayley Smith, Libor Jany and Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

Rainfall from a relentless atmospheric river storm has already smashed records in Southern California, but the torrential weather has not let up, with even more mud and debris flows inundating roads and forcing evacuations.

On the fourth day of the punishing storm, Hacienda Heights and La Habra Heights in eastern Los Angeles County became the latest hilly communities to see devastating damage from the historic rainfall.

Firefighters on Tuesday morning evacuated three homes on Gotera Drive in Hacienda Heights after a debris flow damaged at least one house, Los Angeles County Fire spokesperson Fred Fielding said. Nearby, an almost three-mile stretch of Hacienda Road in La Habra Heights was closed after a major debris flow swallowed much of the street.

Capt. Greg Terril of the La Habra Heights Fire Department said crews were responding all morning to various mudslides and debris flows, mostly affecting roadways. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area through 12:30 p.m.

When asked how many slides had been reported, Terril said, “not one or two, more like 15-plus.” The extent of the damage has not been fully cataloged.

On Tuesday, officials also warned of a possible tornado in San Diego County and flash floods across the region. Officials had hoped the worst of the storm system had passed after a trail of destruction from high winds and heavy rains blazed across the state beginning Sunday, causing widespread flooding and mudslides Monday that ruined homes and forced evacuations in parts of Los Angeles County.

But threats remained imminent.

“Do not let your guard down,” Ariel Cohen, a weather service meteorologist in Oxnard, said Tuesday during a briefing in Los Angeles. “There could still be some very significant impacts still to go.”

It will take “very little additional rain” to cause increased flooding or mudslides and debris flows, he said, and there are waves of rain still expected through the afternoon.

The atmospheric river has also taken a deadly toll.

At least three people in Northern California were killed Sunday by falling trees, according to state and local officials, as the storm initially hit the state with extremely high winds, especially in the coastal mountains — with gusts up to 90 mph, and in one case, over 100 mph.

Chad Ensey, 41, of Carmichael, in Sacramento County, suffered blunt-force trauma and died at a hospital after a tree fell on him in his backyard amid strong winds. In the rural Santa Cruz County community of Boulder Creek, Robert Brainard III, 45, was killed when a tree fell on his home. And in Sutter County, 82-year-old David Gomes was found dead beneath a fallen redwood tree in his backyard, authorities said.

Chances for more downed trees, as well as mudslides, road flooding and power outages are only increasing as the storm continues to dump rain on an already water-logged region. Since late Monday, up to 1.5 inches more of rain has fallen across the L.A. area, pushing tallies close to what is normally seen over an entire year.

Along the Santa Barbara County coast, firefighters in Isla Vista on Tuesday evacuated multiple apartment units because of cliff erosion as a coastal flood advisory and high surf advisory remained in effect through Friday. County fire officials said at least 45 residents had been displaced.

By early Tuesday, rain totals in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains had topped 12 inches in some areas, including Bel-Air (12.29 inches), Sherman Oaks (12.39 inches), Lytle Creek (12.22) and the Cogswell Reservoir north of Monrovia (12.36), according to the National Weather Service’s latest counts.

A new flash flood warning was issued Tuesday for northwestern Orange County, including Anaheim, Irvine and Huntington Beach, and for a swath of north and western Los Angeles County, including the Hollywood Hills, Griffith Park, Beverly Hills, Malibu and across the Santa Monica Mountains, as well as for a portion of southeastern Ventura County, as more moderate to heavy rain is again drenching the area.

Rainfall totals in the Santa Monica Mountains, largely considered the hardest hit by the storm, have averaged 7 to 11 inches since Sunday, with local amounts surpassing 12 inches, according to the weather service. In Orange County, urban areas have reported 2 to 5 inches of rain.

“Flash flooding, mud and debris flows, and landslide and rock slides have occurred in this area, and should continue through at least mid-morning,” the new warning for Orange County said.

Evacuation orders remained in place for parts of Shadow Hills, Topanga and near Agua Dulce, while evacuation warnings were still active for Juniper Hills, Duarte and near other wildfire burn scars that could give way to mud and debris flows.

The storm prompted a state of emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a declaration of a local emergency Monday to help the city respond to the storm.

Bass said Tuesday morning that more than 7,000 residents remained without power, noting that the city’s Department of Water and Power had restored electricity to 54,000. About 5,000 Southern California Edison customers were also still without power.

On Monday night, Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, said about 240,000 customers remained in the dark.

The rainfall has been record-smashing across Southern California, with nearly half the average seasonal rainfall falling in just two days, on Sunday and Monday, officials said.

“Rainfall in downtown Los Angeles on the 4th and the 5th [of February] totaled 7.03 inches,” an analysis from the National Weather Service said. “That is the third wettest consecutive two-day total since official weather records began in 1877 … and the highest two-day rainfall total for the month of February.”

The massive amount of rain, along with its affiliated threats, prompted officials to order the evacuation of some foothill communities, especially in the Santa Monica Mountains. Orange County officials issued evacuation warnings for some Santa Ana foothill communities late Monday. Residents are urged to avoid traveling on canyon roads.

As of late Monday, Los Angeles authorities had responded to more than 300 mudslides, with 35 homes or buildings damaged by debris flows, including five that were deemed unsafe to enter.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said Tuesday that crews remain active. She asked that Angelenos stay away from roaring rivers and washes after crews rescued a man from the L.A. River who jumped in to try to save his dog.

“The banks of the river are not the place to be during the storm,” Crowley said, noting that local rivers are still flowing with “high intensity.”

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the Police Commission, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that emergency responders were called to 136 storm-related incidents that resulted in an injury. The number of collisions peaked on Sunday, Moore said, though he noted there have been no traffic deaths.

The San Diego River at Fashion Valley is again forecast to overflow its banks, with the latest projections from the California Nevada River Forecast Center showing it peaking early Tuesday. Weather officials expect flooding around the river, near Fashion Valley mall.

In San Bernardino County, evacuation warnings were still in place for Forest Falls, Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks and Barton Flats. On Mt. Baldy, rescue teams continued to look for Ada Huang, a hiker who didn’t return home Sunday. Mara Rodriguez, a public information officer for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, said no significant damage or fatalities were handled in the county overnight.

“They will search as long as conditions are safe to do so,” Rodriguez said of efforts to locate Huang.

Winter weather advisories were also still in effect over the mountains of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, where snowfall could accumulate up to 3 feet.

Times staff writers Priscella Vega, Hayley Smith, Libor Jany and Dakota Smith contributed to this report.