Powerful storm puts California towns at risk
Authorities fear debris flows and mudslides
LOS ANGELES — A strong Pacific storm dropped heavy rain Wednesday on a swath of California where thousands of people have been evacuated because of the threat of debris flows and mudslides from wildfire burn areas.
The storm came ashore on the central coast and spread south into the Los Angeles region and north through San Francisco Bay, fed by a long plume of subtropical moisture called an atmospheric river.
It also moved eastward, bringing the threat of flooding to the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada, where winter storm warnings for new snow were in effect on the second day of spring.
Authorities kept a close watch on Santa Barbara County, hoping there would not be a repeat of the massive January debris flows from a burn scar that ravaged the community of Montecito and killed 21 people.
“Right now, it looks like the storm will enter its most threatening period Thursday morning,” the National Weather Service said, adding there could be a ninehour period of moderate to heavy rain.
Mud and rockslides closed several roads in the region, including Highway 1 near Big Sur, not far from where the scenic coast route is still blocked by a massive landslide triggered by a storm last year.
Carolyn Potter, 59, evacuated from her home in Casitas Springs in Ventura County on Tuesday, but returned the same day when no rain materialized.
“I thought, ‘This is silly. I’m going to go home and get something done,’ ” she said.
Potter evacuated again when she woke up to rain Wednesday morning and plans to sleep in her car in a grocery store parking lot to avoid hotel costs or an evacuation shelter.
Her husband Alan is staying home, like he has the other three times Potter has evacuated since September.