Highway 39 closed in Azusa due to mudslide
By Terry Miller
“It never rains in southern California,” Albert Hammond laments in 1972. He wasn’t far wrong.
The last rainfall season (2017-2018) was the driest for Los Angeles since 2006-2007 and the third driest since rainfall records kept in 1877.
We have undeniably been in a long drought in California so this rain is truly remarkable. Hopefully, nature will get back on course to nurture the soil with the desperately needed rain water that supplies nutrients, add to our low reservoirs, and create a snow cap surplus for the mountains.
Southern California has seen an unusually high amount of rain, thunder and lightning thus far causing delays, accidents and some power outages. But, for the most part, we in the San Gabriel Valley have not had too much in the way of serious mudflow.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, a mud and rock slide closed Highway 39 in Azusa at East Fork Road. According to CalTrans, as of Wednesday morning, the road is still closed in both directions. People are advised to use an alternative route.
The national weather forecast calls for more rains throughout this and next week. As of the Chinese New year we had 2.7 inches of rainfall, according to National Weather Service as of Feb. 5, 2019, 9:47 a.m.
