By early Friday, the mud had buried a good portion of Interstate 5 in Castaic – about 40 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
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Southern California motorists were left stranded on highways Thursday, as drenching rain and golf ball-sized hail bore down on the area, causing risky flash floods. Hundreds of cars and trucks were stuck deep in the mud.
But the vehicles, including a school bus, were able to start moving again and weren’t expected to need rescuing, Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Dave Zaniboni said.
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.
They say the El Nino, compounded by the drought and a violent wildfire season, will increase the risk of flooding and mudslides.
Amazingly, officials said, no deaths or injuries were reported.
Lake Hughes, a mountainside community in northern Los Angeles, was likewise hard hit by the storm.
There are still hard road closures, meaning only emergency and utility vehicles are able to pass, on Elizabeth Lake Road between City Ranch Road and Godde Hill, and between Lookabout and Lake Hughes roads, as well as Munz Ranch Road between Lancaster and Elizabeth Lake roads, Deputy Jodi Wolfe of the sheriff’s Palmdale station said.
Nearby Interstate 5 reopened on the northbound side at about 1 p.m. Friday in the Grapevine area, California Highway Patrol officials announced.
Highway crews worked to plow away mud and debris from the freeway, and free trapped cars.
In a photo provided by Robert Rocha, cars on a road are stopped because of flooding, with a few stuck in the mud in the distance, in Lake Hughes, Calif.
Thousands of cars and trucks were stuck in queues along the road, which runs the length of California. Lopez said they would likely eventually be turned around.
“Turn around, don’t drown”, the National Weather Service said in a statement as they warned of flash flooding.
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While drought-ravaged California could certainly use a few rain after four years of cloudless skies, the storms brought on by El Niño could wreak havoc on state roadways and in canyon communities, as it did during the last major El Niño event in 1997.
