Glendora residents were asked to assess their homes after at least one local house and car were damaged by mud during heavy rainfall that brought hail elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley Friday morning.
The mudslide left a huge mess in a San Gabriel Mountain foothill neighborhood within the area still recovering from the nearly 2,000-acre Colby Fire, which occurred in January.
“Those hills just unloaded mud like crazy,” said Arthur Ludwick, president of the Easley Estates homeowners association.
Homeowners were drawn the area because of the beautiful canyon, but it had been left denuded by the Colby Fire, he said.
“Heaven only knows we in Southern California need a lot of rain, but from the standpoint of our neighborhood, we’d sure like it to come in small droplets over a longer period of time,” Ludwick said. “When the rains come and the mud starts flowing, it is war. It’s us against Mother Nature.”
About 4 feet of mud could be seen behind and inside a home in the 1100 block of North Easley Canyon Road (map).
“It’s against the back wall of the residence and it’s seeping into the house,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Rick Flores said.
A car near the home could also be seen in several feet of mud that appeared to completely cover the vehicle’s tires, photos posted on the Glendora Police Department Facebook page showed.
Trucks were going in and out of the neighborhood well into Friday afternoon, hauling mud away from homes and streets.
The department said first responders initially had difficulty gaining access to the gated community where the mudslide occurred because mud built up against the locked gate and pushed in of track.
“Hand crews had to dig it out and with some heavy equipment the gate was placed back on its track,” the department said, advising communities to unlock their gates during storm warnings.
Although only one home was believed to be damaged, nearby residents were asked to investigate their properties.
“We’re telling residents to do a self assessment of their home before they leave to work or school, make sure it’s safe to get out,” Flores said.
Drivers were also advised to use caution due to debris in the streets, according to a Glendora Police Department news release.
Street crews were working to clean the area and the National Weather Service advised the worst of the storm had passed, the release stated.
Heavy rainfall also brought hail to San Dimas around 3 a.m., where pebble-sized pellets of frozen rain could be seen near East Foothill Boulevard and North Walnut Avenue (map).
The incidents occurred during a flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service that advised residents to shelter in place. The warning expired at 4:15 a.m.
Heavy downpours had been expected to cause floods and mudslides in communities south of the Colby Fire burn area, including Glendora and La Verne, the NWS warned.
The Glendora Police Department advised locals to drive with caution and call public works at 626-914-8246 or the department’s dispatch at 626-914-8250 if they needed assistance with any debris flow.
Although the department originally described the event as a “micro burst storm,” the NWS tweeted that it was instead a thunderstorm that brought heavy rain.
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