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Rain returns to SoCal, prompting landslide concerns, wind warnings
Environment Mar 02, 2024
| Image courtesy of the National Weather Service
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As a new storm system douses Southern California, communities like Rancho Palos Verdes, still reeling from extensive damage inflicted by torrential rain in February, are bracing for potential landslides.
Sherry Bojorquez, a local who experienced the events firsthand, spoke of the stark overnight transformations in her neighborhood.
“This neighborhood has been catastrophic in the past few months,” she said.
The Seaview neighborhood, part of the sprawling 700-acre Portuguese Bend landslide complex, has seen several homes red-tagged due to the unstable soil.
“You walk outside and everything’s changed overnight,” lamented Bojorquez. With the soil soaked to saturation, the incoming storm this weekend, albeit lighter, prolongs the concerns of residents like Nikki Noushkam.
“Another storm is coming,” Noushkam said, overseeing ongoing repair efforts. “I don’t know how much this fix will or will not help.”
The weather also caught the attention of Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare an emergency to help address the landslide damage.
As the National Weather Service reports light but lengthy showers ahead, the Southern California region, from Los Angeles to Ventura, Orange to San Bernardino counties, anticipates up to 3 inches of rain, with significant snowfall in higher elevations.
Travel and public safety warnings from authorities added to the gravity of the situation, as strong winds threaten to topple trees and disrupt power. Residents in some areas were urged to prepare for adverse conditions, with the Weather Service warning of intense southwest winds and gusts up to 80 mph in Apple and Lucerne valleys, alongside winter storm warnings for mountain areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The region is expected to experience a reprieve with drier and cooler weather following this storm, but weather forecasts predict another chance of rain toward the middle of next week, which may bring only light precipitation, according to the NWS.
As reported by KTLA
