Heavy rains unleashed mudslides in a mountain area scorched by a wildfire two years ago, sending boulders across roads and carrying away cars.
Crews continue to work to clear out debris in the Yucaipa area after heavy rainfall caused a massive mud flow, prompting road closures and causing damage to homes.Cleanup efforts and damage assessments were underway Tuesday east of Los Angeles after heavy rains unleashed mudslides in a mountain area scorched by a wildfire two years ago, sending boulders across roads, carrying away cars and prompting evacuations and shelter-in-place orders.
Social media video from Oak Glen showed a torrent of mud racing down a hillside, across a road and into a restaurant parking lot. The rains were the remnants of a tropical storm that brought high winds and some badly needed rainfall to drought-stricken Southern California last week, helping firefighters largely corral a wildfire that had been burning out of control about 20 miles south of the mudslides.
The tropical storm aided crews battling the Fairview Fire about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The 44-square-mile blaze was 62% contained by Tuesday. Two people died fleeing the fire, which destroyed at least 30 homes and other structures in Riverside County.