S. Calif. Storm Brings Mudslides, Flooding

Thunderous mudslides swept away cars and pushed furniture out of homes and into the streets in the foothills north of Los Angeles Saturday as an intense winter storm brought down hillsides in wildfire burn areas.

At least 41 homes were seriously damaged and 500 more were ordered evacuated after heavy rains overflowed debris basins, carried away cement barricades and swept cars into storm drains. No injuries were reported as a result of the mudslides.

"Everywhere we look, we see destruction, just home after home," said CBS Station KCBS reporter-helicopter pilot Larry Welk.

"We've got crews going door to door to tell residents to get out," said Los Angeles County Fire Insp. Frederick Stowers. "Some of the roads up there are a complete mess."

At least a foot of debris was reported in some houses. Family photographs, furniture and other personal items were spotted among the rocks and debris that flowed into yards and streets.

By midmorning, the rain had tapered off, but forecasters said another storm system was expected Saturday afternoon.

The evacuations were ordered in foothill areas of La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta and some parts of Acton.

Jennifer Dickens described to KCBS the scene when a hillside gave way and sent mud into a neighbor's home: "I saw this wave coming. It was like a waterfall hitting the house."

No injuries were reported, but the mud flooded the home. Dickens said another neighbor's car was swept away.

Tony Nefas of La Canada Flintridge said mud breached a three-foot-high retaining wall and flowed into his house. "We had a lot of time to prepare for this, but this was bigger than anything we have ever seen," Nefas told KCBS.

Leslie Fernandes, 49, said he awoke in his La Canada Flintridge home just before 5 a.m. to a thunderous rain. "I heard a roar and a rumble and I went to look outside and there were cars swept down the street," Fernandes said.

A retaining wall on his property burst and 2 feet of mud was piled on his driveway, topped with a layer of ash from last summer's wildfires.

Fernandes said he ignored an evacuation order to stay and try to divert the debris flow away from his house and into his empty swimming pool.

"I'm glad I didn't leave otherwise we'd really be in trouble," he said.

Down the street, Steve Brown, 52, said he helped a neighbor escape her mud-filled home after she was trapped upstairs.

"There were logs floating in her living room," Brown said.

An evacuation centre was set up at La Canada Flintridge, and the Red Cross was working to establish other locations to shelter displaced residents.

Crews used bulldozers and other heavy equipment to clear masses of mud and rocks that blocked suburban streets and intersections.

A heavy downpour at sunrise followed a steady overnight rain of nearly 2 inches in a mountainous 250-square-mile area scarred by wildfires last summer.

Widespread flooding and downed trees tied up traffic and caused accidents across Los Angeles County.

A section of the Long Beach Freeway was shut down early Saturday because of high water.

Water almost a foot deep flowed into businesses on Melrose Avenue. To the east, Topanga Canyon Boulevard was closed by a rock slide just north of Pacific Coast Highway, and scattered rocks and mud fell on roads in Malibu.

Scattered power outages affected more than 10,000 customers in the Los Angeles area.