The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — Like many residents on Ocean View Boulevard, where the mountains meet civilization, Olivia Brown is packed up and ready to evacuate at the first sign of mud sliding off the hill behind her home.
“We’re ready to go but we’re not leaving just yet,” the 44-year-old La Canada Flintridge resident said, standing in her back yard.
Last month, after a smaller storm, mud flowed off the hill about 100 yards behind her home. Three truckloads of mud and debris had to be removed after that storm, she said.
Now, she’s hoping the $1,000 she’s since spent on storm preparations, including a series of barriers made of wooden boards and railroad ties, will be enough to protect her property as a new storm brings more rain to the areas below the Station Fire burn area.
“What I’m worried about is if it keeps raining all week and there’s another storm on Friday after everything will be water-logged and it could get really awful,” said Richard Atwater, 57, who was preparing to evacuate from his home in the 5700 block of Ocean View.
“If the mountain starts coming down, these K-rails aren’t gong to be enough.”
He was referring to the concrete barriers county public works Crews installed in foothill neighborhoods to divert hillside debris toward the streets and away from homes. Crews also spent most of last week cleaning out about 30 massive debris catch basins in the foothills.
Los Angeles County Fire Department officials say no mud or debris flows have been reported so far in foothills communities below where the Station Fire in August left hillsides barren of vegetation, but that picture could change this afternoon.
Fire officials are expecting the rain to pick up this afternoon, and the National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings for neighborhoods below the burn areas, beginning at noon today.
Fire officials say they plan to set up a command post near the burn areas of La Canada Flintridge later today, but the location has not yet been determined.
The county Department of Public Works has shut down roads through the San Gabriel Mountains from the Antelope Valley to La Canada Flintridge.
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