![[Contributed reader's photo]](https://www.theavtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/readers-photo-flooding-10.15.15.jpg)
Rainfall records for Oct. 15 were set in Palmdale (0.94 of an inch), breaking the previous record of 0.04 of an inch set in 1935, according to the National Weather Service. A record was also set at Fox Field in Lancaster, where 0.65 of an inch fell, breaking the previous record of a trace amount set in 2005.
Flooding was reported by the National Weather Service near San Francisquito Canyon and Elizabeth Lake roads and a funnel cloud was spotted near Lake Hughes.
Several homes were engulfed in mud in the Elizabeth Lake area and vehicles were trapped in mud flows on Elizabeth Lake Road in the Lake Hughes area.
Aerial video showed a mobile home on its side, apparently swept off a road by a mud flow. Flood and mud also damaged homes in Palmdale.
Los Angeles County Fire Department rescue crews airlifted four people to safety after they became trapped in a vehicle, the department’s Humberto Agurcia said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, but crews were continuing to survey the area on the ground and from the air in search of any other possible flooding victims.
The Golden State Freeway was blocked by rock and debris between Fort Tejon north of Gorman and Parker Road in the Castaic area and was expected to remain so until Friday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol. Dozens of vehicles were trapped on the northbound side of the freeway.
Northbound traffic was being directed off the freeway three miles north of Santa Clarita at Parker Road and southbound traffic at Grapevine Road, according to the CHP. Dozens of vehicles were trapped on the northbound side of the freeway.
Patrick Chandler of Caltrans said Interstate 5 was choked by debris, mud and car-sized boulders and urged travelers to take a different route. Finding alternatives was made difficult by flooding on other roads, however.
The CHP reported Thursday night that state Routes 14 and 58 were closed in the Mojave area in Kern County due to flooding, so southbound motorists were being advised to take state Routes 41 or 166 to southbound U.S. Highway 101 to eastbound state Route 126. Northbound motorists were advised to exit the Golden State Freeway and take westbound state Route 126 to the 101 north.
A southerly air flow streamed into the area ahead of the storm system, bringing increased moisture and atmospheric instability, NWS forecasters said.
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Thom says
I am surprised by the small amount of rain that was recorded in Lancaster and Palmdale. I live in the Backus/Mojave Tropico area and my rain gauge collected two and a half inches. We had some big puddles, but that’s about it.(That I am aware of.)
William says
Was there anything that could have been done to mitigate the mudslides? We’ve had the drought for 4 years and we’ve known about El Nino for a while, so this was to be expected.
With the weather reports saying storm was coming, should Elizabeth Lake Road have been closed much sooner given the temptation that people want to get home no matter how severe the risks?
The Armargosa Creek was worked on several years ago around Elizabeth Lake Road and 20th Street West, so it looks like it could withstand a large flow of water right there.
Is it a lack of funds or simply that nothing can be done?
Tim Scott says
“Is it a lack of funds or simply that nothing can be done?”
This is not an either/or question. There is ALWAYS something that can be done IF you assume infinite funds.
Realistically, spending the necessary funds to preemptively deal with everywhere there MIGHT be a mudslide just can’t be made practical. It is one of those things that has to just be cleaned up after the fact. It is advisable to keep in mind that we should expect a particularly bad season for them this year though.
William says
@Tim Scott
I did point out that the Amargosa Creek bed was improved a while back to which will minimize the impact of a raging river of water in the immediate area.
As for money, we seem to have it available for cleanups but less so for preventative measures.
I’m always amazed at the seemingly unlimited amount of money and effort spent to reconstruct a plane that crashes in deep water or other difficult locations in order to do an investigation. Yet, we find out in a different time and place how airlines skimp on maintenance.
I guess it’s human nature.
Tim Scott says
Amargosa creek wasn’t a “might be a problem,” it was a known “will be a problem.” Money to prevent is available, it just has to be targeted on places that are pretty sure things, not spread across the entire foothill front of potential problems.
William says
Well then, to beat a dead horse, how much would it have cost to close Elizabeth Lake Road and other at risks roads given that it was likely that there would be mudslides.
They knew a storm was a-coming.
How much would it have cost to close the roads preemptively if nothing could have been done about the inevitable mudslides months/years ago?
Wasn’t that a known ‘will be a problem’ as well, Tim?
It seems to be human nature to want to get back home no matter what the hazard. How often do people drive around barricades only to get stuck in flood waters?
I’ll bet that even if they did barricade the roads before the storm hit, there would still have been a few ‘rural pioneers’ that would have gone around them and gotten stuck in the mud. Something about Darwinism.
It’s always funny to see SUVs stuck in the mud.
Tim Scott says
A preemptive closure would make sense, because yeah, it was predictable that SOMEWHERE along Eliz. Lk. Rd. something was probably going to happen. That doesn’t mean that taking preventive measures along the full length of it would be practical.
Now for the unfortunate problem with preemptive closures. They train people to drive through closures. There are enough “but I have to get through” dummies driving through closures as it is. All it would take is one knucklehead tweeting “I went through and there was no problem at all” and we’d be fishing fools and their SUVs out of the mud until February.
William says
@Tim Scott
The operative word in your comment was ‘knucklehead’.
So true.
I guess what bugs me is that the news media likes to evoke sympathy in the viewer/reader when ‘knuckleheads’ do what they do.
I’m old enough to have grown weary with being played so often. My sympathies are now more reserved for true victims of events and not so much for risk takers.
Do not those who want to live away from it all count on outsiders to help them out when disaster happens? I guess that’s human nature. too. Whether it’s Mailbu or the flood zones around the country, people typically want to rebuild in the same places after disaster has struck time and again.
I suspect my homeowers insurance helps subsidize insurance for those in fire zones even though I live in a tract and how often does a single house fire occur in such places. I’m sure we subsidize people in high risk areas through other avenues such as rescue services and government assistance.
Ryan Hunt says
That was an intense storm that came through yesterday, it wasn’t even that big but it sure packed a wallop under wherever it traveled. This so called El Nino this year into next could very well be quite a contender.