Rain Causes Mudslides in Southern Calif.

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LOS ANGELES - At least 15 people were trapped when a mudslide swept over their camp Thursday as heavy rains triggered flooding in areas ravaged by wildfires last month, authorities said.

Emergency crews had pulled out at least seven of the people trapped in Waterman Canyon, just north of San Bernadino, said Clifford Ellis, a supervisor at the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The extent of their injuries and other details were not immediately available.

A bridge also washed out and several structures were threatened, Ellis said.

Elsewhere in the county east of Los Angeles, authorities ordered residents to evacuate as mudslides threatened homes. Several roads were closed.

In Lytle Creek Canyon, the rain caused several mudslides, including a four-foot-high flow across a road that trapped a car. The driver was not hurt and the road was closed.

Emergency officials ordered an undetermined number of residents along the overflowing Lytle Creek to evacuate.

The storm began moving into wildfire-scarred Southern California Wednesday evening, bringing the first rainy Christmas Day in Los Angeles in 20 years. The National Weather Service (news - web sites) issued a flash flood warning for southwestern San Bernardino County, including areas around Lytle Creek.

In a 24-hour period beginning Wednesday afternoon, 3.57 inches of rain fell in Lytle Creek, said Stan Wasowski, a National Weather Service forecaster.

"It'll probably get worse before it gets better." he said.

Minor flooding also was reported on some roads in Crestline and in residential areas of Devore, a suburb of San Bernardino.

[PTrackerLA]

They had been predicting mudslides in areas that were burned and I guess it's finally happening. I hope no one gets hurt over there.

[senorpepr]

WATERMAN CANYON, Calif. (Reuters) - Rescue workers found two bodies on Friday and searched for as many as 10 missing people in the aftermath of Christmas Day mudslides that crashed through this canyon east of Los Angeles.

Heavy rains falling on wildfire-charred mountainsides sent a wall of mud through Waterman Canyon camp shortly after noon on Thursday, crushing buildings, snapping 40-foot trees like twigs and covering the ground in sludge up to 12 feet deep in places.

Search and rescue personnel returned to the canyon about 65 miles east of Los Angeles at daybreak to discover roads whose asphalt had been crushed by mud and a 30-foot natural gas geyser from a broken main pipeline. The bodies, which have not been identified, were discovered at the upper and lower ends of the canyon.

Rescuers had been forced to call off their search shortly after 1 a.m. PST (4 a.m. EST) because of inclement weather and conditions made worse by wild fires two months ago here in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains that destroyed much of the ground covering plants.

Capt. Rick McClintock of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said the biggest difficulty in trying to find survivors was the instability of the ground. "It was just like quicksand," he said.

Helicopters, bulldozers, search dogs and even prison inmates were brought in to conduct the search for survivors.

Fourteen adults and children were rescued on Thursday afternoon from the mudslide area and were treated at local hospitals. One man remained hospitalized.

At the St. Sophia Camp, damaged and destroyed buildings surrounded a Greek Orthodox church that appeared largely intact. Some of the buildings had rocks on their roofs that firefighters said could only have been deposited by a wall of mud rushing over them.

Those rescued indicated the missing may have been trapped in one of the damaged buildings.

"That's where some of them may be buried," said Tracey Martinez, a fire department spokeswoman.

Martinez said it was not clear who the people staying at the camp were because they were not affiliated with the Greek Orthodox church that runs the facility.

Mildred Najera, 35, said her sister, Rosa, and Rosa's 7-year-old daughter, Katherine, were missing. They had been among the families from a local church who had gone to the camp for a Christmas luncheon.

Her brother-in-law had been rescued and described the impact of the mudslide to her. "There was a lot of noise and the car was going (sliding) too," she said he had told her. They were among the families waiting for word of their loved ones at a park not far from the canyon.

Rescue teams were also called to Devore, about 10 minutes west of the canyon, where 52 people had to be rescued late Thursday night from a campground that also was overrun by mud.

After Thursday's torrential rainstorm that dumped well over two inches of rain on the greater Los Angeles area, no further rain was predicted for Friday although rescuers were concerned about temperatures in the low 30s and the continued instability of the canyon area because of the mud and the debris.

The wildfires of October and November, the worst in California history, burned off trees and shrubbery that would normally retain water and prevent severe mudslides.

The fires scorched more than 91,000 acres, killing four people and engulfing 993 homes throughout the region.

[senorpepr]

Another update...

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Searchers slogging through waist-high muck found four people dead Friday and looked for at least 12 others missing after mudslides engulfed two camps in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The missing included nine children, ages 6 months to 16, who had been at a Greek Orthodox youth camp.

The mudslides were set off on Christmas Day after as much as 3 1/2 inches of rain fell on hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation by wildfires in October and November. Tree trunks and boulders went roaring down the hillsides, along with the mud.

"I thought I was going to die," said Brian Delaney, 19, who described mud crashing into a recreation center at a KOA trailer camp in Devore. He was trapped up to his neck before rescuers pulled him out.

Two bodies were found near the Saint Sophia Camp, the Greek Orthodox retreat.

Two other bodies were found near each other near the trailer camp, about five miles to the west, San Bernardino County authorities said.

Twenty-eight people were believed to have been spending Christmas Day with the caretaker of Saint Sophia Camp, when the mudslide smashed into two camp cabins. Fourteen of them were rescued on Christmas Day.

[senorpepr]

Yet another update... 6 dead, 10 missing...

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Searchers slogging through waist-high muck found six people dead Friday and looked for at least 10 others — mostly children — missing after mudslides engulfed two camps in the San Bernardino Mountains in a terrifying torrent of soil, boulders and tree trunks.

Four bodies were found at a Greek Orthodox youth camp in Waterman Canyon, which was smashed Thursday. Authorities did not immediately provide the ages or sex of the victims that were found. Nine of 14 people who had been missing there were children, ages 6 months to 16.

The mudslides were set off on Christmas Day after as much as 3 1/2 inches of rain fell on hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation by wildfires in October and November. With nothing to hold the soil in place, trees and rocks went roaring down the hillsides, along with the dark-brown mud.

"I thought I was going to die," said Brian Delaney, 19, who was trapped up to his neck before rescuers pulled him out of the mud that crashed into the recreation center at a trailer-home encampment in Devore.

Two bodies were found near the trailer camp, San Bernardino County authorities said.

At the Greek Orthodox retreat, the Saint Sophia Camp, 28 people were believed to have been spending Christmas Day with the camp's caretaker when the wall of mud smashed into two cabins. Fourteen of the people were rescued on Christmas Day.