Eye-popping rain totals rise as relentless storm pounds Southern California

An unusually intense, record-shattering winter storm continues to pound Southern California on Tuesday, and flash flood warnings remain in effect, as eye-popping rainfall totals keep rising.

Sunday and Monday totals amounted to the third-wettest two-day stretch for Los Angeles since records were kept starting in the 1870s, said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, in a Tuesday morning update.

“We still have light to moderate rain ongoing across the greater L.A. area,” Cohen said. “Soils are so saturated it will take very little additional rain to increase already flooded areas with more flooding, landslides, mudslides and debris flow.”

While the rain slowed in L.A. County overnight, areas such as Bel Air and the Sepulveda Canyon have seen 12.19 inches and 11.89 inches respectively, over a 48-hour period. Woodland Hills had more than 11 inches on Monday night.

National Weather Service forecasters projected the heaviest rainfall would hit Orange County before 6 a.m. Tuesday. As of 4 a.m., Coto de Caza had received 5.71 inches of rainfall and many other areas in South Orange County were approaching 5 inches, according to NWS data.

Brea, at 4.13 inches, had the highest amount for North Orange County spots.

The heavy rainfall knocked out a wall below an apartment complex in La Habra and led to flooding on residential streets in Fullerton.

Lytle Creek, in the San Bernardino Mountains, was up to 12.22 inches of rainfall as of Tuesday morning, Day Canyon had 11.10 inches and in Riverside County valleys, North Elsinore had collected 3.66 inches.

The storm has caused mud and debris flows that forced evacuations and left some homes heavily damaged.

Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach remained closed Tuesday, Feb. 6, sending commuters and travelers to alternative routes due to flooding stemming from the wetlands area.

“We haven’t been able to reopen it for safety reasons,” said Christine Knadler, Caltrans public information officer for District 12.

It was the only major roadway in Orange County closed as of Tuesday morning, with some smaller closures elsewhere mostly from drainage issues, she said. “We’re working on those pretty quickly,” she added.

Voluntary evacuation warnings remain in place throughout the region, including in Silverado, Williams, Modjeska and Trabuco canyons, according to Shannon Widor, an Orange County Public Works spokesperson.

In La Habra, an apartment building at the Las Lomas Gardens apartments was red-tagged and evacuated by the city after a wall collapsed and damaged three cars Sunday night, ABC Los Angeles reported.

Work was underway to secure the area around the building after heavy downpours caused the collapse, said Greg Raap with Las Lomas Gardens management.

“This is not something that we anticipated would have been a failure like that,” Raap told the station.

In Los Angeles County, Caltrans closed both directions of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu near Ventura County because of storm erosion Monday night. The closure from Las Posas Road to Sycamore Canyon Road came after a right lane shoulder was partially washed out, officials said, with concerns that incoming high tides could cause further shoulder damage on the dark roadway.

Caltrans officials recommended using the 101 Freeway as an alternative, but recommended against traversing the 23 and 27 freeways in the Santa Monica Mountains because of “existing or potential mudslides and flooding.”

Roads leading to and through the Sepulveda Basin were closed due to flooding, including Burbank Boulevard between the 405 Freeway and Balboa Boulevard and Woodley Avenue between Burbank and Victory Boulevards.

Flash flood warnings lit up cell phones, including for coastal Orange County, as well as Whittier, Norwalk, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs and other inland areas.

Officials in Torrance were dealing with a water main break above Vista Largo, a residential street in the southern portion of the city, which also sent debris into the street.

Los Angeles city firefighters have been busy, responding to 307 mudslides and 35 incidents of buildings requiring inspection due to mudslides or slope failures, Chief Kristen Crowley said Tuesday. Five buildings in the city have been red-tagged and 7 more were yellow-tagged.

In addition, Los Angeles’ Public Works department has responded to 257 fallen trees or branches, 159 reports of potholes and have cleared 875 catch basins and stormwater conveyance systems, Crowley said.

Firefighters also conducted a daring rescue in the Pacoima Wash Monday, where they used a helicopter to hoist a man and his dog to safety.