Thunder, Rain And Mudslides Blast SoCal Mountain And High Desert Communities Thursday
BEAUMONT (CBSLA) - A strong summer storm blasted thunder, rain and mudslides through parts of the mountains and high deserts Thursday.
"It does rain in sunny Southern California," Apple Valley resident Tony Enos said. "It actually looks like a real storm."
The summer storm packed an unexpected punch and, said Enos, lasted for about a half hour in his neighborhood before working its way into several other mountain and desert towns.
Above Yucaipa, the skies cracked with thunder.
"We had a little thunderstorm this afternoon," Yucaipa resident Wyatt Faller said. "It was really loud and we don't get much of that. So, I was happy to see it."
Faller said that with how hot and dry it's been lately, the storm felt long overdue.
Banning resident Roman Dominguez said the rain came in really, really hard and admitted to being caught off guard when he received an emergency alert on his cellphone about potential flash flooding.
"This is a dangerous and life threatening situation, do not travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding," the alert read on his phone.
Flooding is what crews with the California Department of Transportation were worried about. They spent hours cleaning up rock slides and mud flow on State Route 18, between Big Bear Dam and Snow Valley.
One driver said he had to move rocks and trees out of the road to make it down from Big Bear.
"I love the change of seasons. So, I was excited when summer started and excited to be moving into fall," Wyatt said.