Hillside Collapses As Storm Pounds LA

LOS ANGELES, CA — A powerful storm treated the Southland to another round of moderate to heavy rainfall Thursday, causing scattered flooding and a dramatic hillside collapse in La Tuna Canyon while continuing to raise fears of mud and debris flows in burn areas.

A large chunk of hillside just below La Tuna Canyon Road in the Sun Valley area gave way overnight amid an intense downpour. No homes are in the area, which was already under evacuation orders, so no structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.

The road had already been closed south of the Foothill (210) Freeway.

A large tree fell onto a house in Sherman Oaks, but no one was injured.

Flooded streets were reported around the area, including along Sand Canyon Road between Iron Canyon and Placerita canyon roads near Santa Clarita. A man was rescued by a good Samaritan in Canyon Country after his SUV was swept into a wash and overturned.

Voluntary evacuation orders were lifted Thursday afternoon for all affected areas of Burbank. The only restriction remaining in place was a mandatory evacuation for La Tuna Canyon Road from the 8300 to the 9000 blocks. The road remained closed from the 8300 block to the Foothill (210) Freeway.

Officials Wednesday had advised people who reside in the areas affected by the La Tuna Canyon, Creek and Skirball fires to prepare for evacuations and street closures, but late in the afternoon, evacuation orders that had been scheduled to take effect at 6 p.m. in the Kagel Canyon, Lopez Canyon and Little Tujunga Canyon areas were canceled due to an updated forecast.

The mandatory evacuations La Tuna Canyon Road did go into effect at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Shelters at the Sylmar Recreation Center and Westwood Recreation Center were closed Thursday evening, but the shelter at the Sun Valley Recreation Center, 8133 Vineland Ave., remained open.

The storm -- a Pacific weather system greatly beefed up by a subtropical atmospheric river -- was forecast to produce 1 to 3 inches of rain in Los Angeles County coastal and valley areas and between 2 and 5 inches in the mountains.

City News Service; Images courtesy of the LAPD