Storm leads to flooding, potholes that strand dozens of motorists

The tail end of a powerful storm doused the Southland with more rain Wednesday, contributing to mudslides, flooding and hundreds of potholes that damaged hundreds of cars across the area and left motorists stranded.

National Weather Service forecasters said the rain will diminish Wednesday, but the damage was done overnight, with some areas receiving rain at rates topping a half-inch per hour.

“A drying and warming trend will establish through today and tonight as the storm system vacates the region and ridging builds into the West Coast through Friday,” according to the NWS. “Temperatures will warm into Thursday as a weak offshore flow pattern develops.”

Flood watches and advisories that had been issued across most of Los Angeles County were lifted by mid-morning Wednesday. But the heavy overnight rain left lingering impacts.

A mudslide caused the closure of Pacific Coast Highway from Beach Road south to Camino Capistrano in Dana Point. A chunk of the hillside slid down on the road at Capistrano Beach in Dana Point, CBS2 reported. No homes were reported in danger.

In Newport Beach, above the Back Bay Nature Preserve, pipes and pumps were being used to drain water out of the hillside on Galaxy Drive. One home is red-tagged and neighboring houses are yellow-tagged because of the unstable hillside.

In Huntington Beach, PCH was closed due to flooding between Warner Avenue and Seapoint Street.

In Beverly Hills, a sinkhole temporarily closed northbound Beverly Drive to Coldwater Canyon.

Four Sepulveda Basin intersections were shut down at least through the morning due to heavy rain from the previous night: Victory Boulevard and Woodley Avenue; Burbank Boulevard and the San Diego (405) Freeway; Burbank and Havenhurst Avenue; and Burbank and Balboa Boulevard.

Flooding and mudflows were reported across the area, including on La Brea Avenue near Baldwin Hills. More troubling for many motorists were the potholes. More than 30 cars became disabled due to potholes on the northbound 71 Freeway at Holt Avenue in Pomona, with similar reports of damaging potholes across the region.

In Azusa one person remained missing Tuesday after 11 others were rescued from a swollen San Gabriel River, authorities said.

Firefighters and rescue personnel from the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded at 6:09 p.m. Monday to North Todd and West Sierra Madre avenues near Encanto Park, where they learned the victims had been swept into the river, according to the LACFD.

The victims were rescued via helicopter.

Six dogs were also pulled from the raging river.

With more significant rain falling in Los Angeles County on Tuesday night, officials were warning people to be wary of possible flooding dangers on roads and rivers.

At LAX, 1.97 inches was reported Tuesday by the NWS, the sixth most for any day in March. The record daily rainfall at LAX for March was 3.1 inches set on March 7, 1968.

In downtown LA, 1.89 inches was reported, the 24th most for any day in March. The record daily rainfall for March for downtown LA was 5.88 inches on March 2, 1938.

At Long Beach Airport, 1.53 inches of rain fell, the seventh most for any day in March. The record daily rainfall for March for Long Beach Airport was 3.46 inches on March 1, 1983.

Dry weather was expected to return Wednesday night through at least Friday, with a chance of light precipitation over the weekend.

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