No injuries have been reported.
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“It was a raging river of mud”.
Stewart said she was among about 30 motorists who were left stranded on a local road.
“She was scared. She knew she had to get moving because she felt she was on an island and the water was getting higher and higher”, Hartle said.
She said the two homes on the land seemed like they were OK, but that one of the homes was without water because of an inundated pump, and their 20-foot trailer is nowhere in sight.
“The storm was not related to El Niño, the warm weather pattern that experts say is expected to produce heavy rain in California this winter”.
“The whole side of the hill just came down onto State Route 58…”
A storm rolled through the area on Thursday sending thick sheets of mud into homes, damaging properties and goods.
State Route 58 in Kern County was also closed near Mojave as a storm system brought downpours during the afternoon rush hour.
Hundreds more trucks are backing up Friday morning. Lopez said they would likely eventually be turned around.
Emergency teams were working to dig out head- Thursday, high mounds of mud in the 58 and Interstate 5, that was likewise shut down as numerous cars were trapped in the mud.
Thursday, a flash food carried debris and mud onto Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles, blocking traffic and stranding hundreds of motorists.
On Friday afternoon, the northbound portion of the highway was reopened after street sweepers scoured mud from the road, the California Department of Transportation said on Twitter. Authorities hope to open the southbound lanes by 5 p.m.
‘The water was up to her hips and she had to escape for her life and her unborn child’s life’. “It was extremely frightening”, said Nuesca’s 11-year old daughter, Sarah. “Me and my brother both thought we were going to die that night”.
The mud covered their auto, solidifying inside and filling up the front seat up to the dashboard.
Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles was closed Thursday after flash flood debris blocked the roadway, stranded hundreds of vehicles and forced a few motorists to take refuge on top of their cars. Robert Rocha, a 37-year-old resident, said he was driving home from work when the storm arrived.
Clean up is expected to continue into Friday as well, with emergency crews shoveling mud and debris off the road.
‘It either got buried or it’s downriver, ‘ she said.
The county department was going to have to move a few 300,000 cubic yards of debris, the sheriff’s statement said. Bill Wells, a nearby rancher, was walking through the place looking for his livestock on Friday.
“I think my livestock was swept away and penned against the fence”.
Miami Police are searching for an elderly man who they say suffers from Alzheimer’s. There are vehicles there that will never be able to be used again.
Up to 1.45 inches of rain fell in minutes at the worst hit areas.
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When it rains it pours – at least in California. This El Nino has been forecast to bring above-average precipitation to Southern California during January, February and March.
