Evacuations, Floods, Closures: Atmospheric River Pummels Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A historic rain storm slammed Southern California Monday, unleashing mudslides, floods, road closures, and power outages and triggering evacuations in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

In its first 24 hours, the storm set rainfall records across the region, and forecasters warn of several days of rain yet to come, increasing the life-threatening danger posed by the second atmospheric river to drench the region in the last week. Up to 9 inches of rain has fallen in some areas and more is expected to come through to Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

In Orange County, a voluntary evacuation warning was issued at 7 p.m. Sunday for Silverado, Williams, Modjeska and Trabuco canyons due to heavy rains. A map with detailed depictions of the areas under evacuation warnings can be found at www.ocsheriff.gov/emergency.

Orange County began experiencing some of its heaviest downpours around 1 p.m. Monday.

Canyon residents are encouraged to prepare and voluntarily evacuate, especially those with disabilities, access and/or functional needs, and canyon residents with large animals.

Disneyland and Disney California Adventure announced the parks would close early as the relentless storm drenched theme park goers. Both parks will close at 8 p.m. officials said.

A three-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was shut down just north of Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve Sunday night due to flooding.

In Los Angeles, which got the most intense rainfall of the storm over night Sunday and Monday, saw mudslides and floods, damaging homes and cars and blocking roadways in Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Bel Air, Agoura Hills and Malibu. Several people had to be rescued from their cars. In Beverly Crest, firefighters assisted stranded residents in seven homes, including nine children.

Gushing rivers carried mud, rocks and objects from people’s multimillion-dollar homes, including coolers, ladders and plastic crates, in Studio City, an area named after a movie studio lot, on the backside of the Hollywood Hills.

Several homes were damaged, including one with a crumpled garage door from the debris slide.

A text late Sunday alerted Keki Mingus that a neighbor's house at the top of a hill was in trouble.

“Mud, rocks and water came rushing down through their house and another neighbor’s house and into our street,” Mingus said as water continued to rush down the road around dawn on Monday. “I can’t believe it. It looks like a river that’s been here for years. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

A record 4.1 inches (10.41 centimeters) of rain fell Sunday in downtown Los Angeles, blowing past the previous record of 2.55 inches (6.48 centimeters) set in 1927, the National Weather Service said.

Some of the most intense rainfall from the storm so far has hit the Conejo Valley and Topanga Canyon areas, with near 10 inches of rain falling in the Bel Air and Woodland Hills areas by 4 a.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Rainfall in Downtown Los Angeles nearly doubled its old record, with more than four inches of rain falling since the start of the storm. Still heavy rain is expected to continue throughout the day Monday.

The National Weather Service called the situation in the Hollywood Hills and Santa Monica Mountains "extremely dangerous" and "life-threatening."

Several schools across the region closed for the day or modified their schedules. Schools in Malibu were closed Monday due to the threat of mudslides. Among the Cal State campuses impacted are Fullerton, Los Angeles, Northridge, Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, San Bernardino and Long Beach, KTLA reported.

Forecasters said the rain will continue to batter the region through Thursday but with much less intensity compared to the last 24 hours. Additional rainfall amounts are predicted to be between 3 inches to 6 inches.

"The majority of projections keep the core of the band wobbling between Los Angeles and Orange Counties through tonight," the National Weather Service warned. "For Tuesday, it will be more showery with more breaks in the rain, but the convective threat will continue. The newest wrinkle is some projections showing another small low-pressure area dropping off the coast on Wednesday and producing another organized band of rain that will sweep through California Wednesday Night into Thursday."

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.