Officials say storm may taper off, but more mudslides possible
Mayor Bass urges Angelenos to call 311 for advice, like clearing storm drains
The multi-day rainstorm that has drenched Southern California was expected to taper off Tuesday night, but Los Angeles city officials and weather experts warn residents to remain on guard, noting that hazards such as mudslides can still occur due to oversaturated ground.
They're also encouraging Angelenos to use the city's 311 nonemergency system to request services like repairing potholes or clearing storm drains as the city starts to transition out of emergency mode to the recovery phase of its response.
“Though the rain is easing up, we cannot drop our guard,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during an evening news conference on Tuesday. “We are expecting rain this evening and a surge of heavy rains in a short period of time that may impact tomorrow's commute.”
During an earlier press conference on Tuesday, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that while surveying some of the worst mudslides on Monday, she was reminded of “the pure force and magnitude with which a hillside can suddenly come down” and urged people to avoid traveling through hillside areas, and for those living in hilly areas to heed any evacuation orders if issued.
So far, five buildings had been red-tagged as unsafe to go inside and seven others yellow-tagged, meaning residents can only go inside to retrieve possessions but can't stay there, Crowley said Tuesday morning. At that point, 35 buildings had been damaged that required inspection.
During the evening press conference, Crowley said that since the start of the storm, the city had responded to reports including 475 mudslides, 390 fallen trees, multiple water rescues, an increased volume of traffic collisions, dozens of structure fires and 441 potholes — the last of which she said street services employees were working to resolve.
City officials also said that power had been restored to more than 59,000 households with just over 6,600 customers still without power. Most of those were due to a downed tree in Brentwood.
City officials also announced Tuesday evening that the evacuation order for residents along La Tuna Canyon Road, in an area north of Burbank Airport, had been lifted. The order had been in effect since Sunday morning.
The area, roughly bounded by Horse Haven Street to the north, Martindale Avenue to the east, Penrose Street to the south and Ledge Avenue to the west, had been at risk of substantial flooding and mudslides due to burn scars left by a 2022 fire.
Though the evacuation order has been lifted, Crowley continued to urge caution.
“As residents return to their homes, we urge them to exercise caution as the water-soaked hillsides will continue to pose a mudslide threat for days after the rain stops,” she said.
Like city officials, meteorologists with the National Weather Service warned Angelenos to remain vigilant even as the worst of the storm may appear to be over.
During the morning press conference, Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the area recorded its third wettest two-day stretch since record-keeping began in the 1870s, and it was remarkable that no fatalities were directly related to the storm.
But Angelenos should not let their guard down, he said.
“We still have light to moderate rain ongoing across the greater L.A. area and because the soils are so saturated — super-saturated in fact — with six to 12 inches of rain across the region, it will take very little additional rain to increase already flooded areas with more flooding, landslides, mudslides and other debris flows,” he said.
Bass, meanwhile, said she intends to take President Joe Biden up on his offer to provide support to the city, which he made during a call to the mayor in the middle of her press conference Monday evening.
“He told me to call if there's anything we need, and so I can assure Angelenos that call will be made today,” Bass said.
The mayor said she'll be seeking assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to see if help is available to homeowners whose properties sustained damages.
Bass said she will also ask for federal help to get more emergency housing vouchers for the homeless. Among the impacts to the homeless, one Tiny Home village in the San Fernando Valley was flooded on Monday, requiring all who had been living there to temporarily relocate to a shelter.