Mudslides Close Highways Across Southern California
Heavy rains worked in to all of California early Tuesday morning. However, southern California is covered in burn scars from the early December wildfire outbreak. All of this rain quickly lead to debris flow and mudslides.
Images like this were coming out of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties before the sun had even risen.
Reports of flood water and mud overran roadways with heights as high as 3 feet. Major highways and routes like 101 and 33 were closed just in time for the morning commute. Many Californians were unable to head north and were stuck in standstill traffic once the highways closed.
The maximum rainfall generally occurred between 3:30AM and 3:45 AM PST this morning near the Montecito, Summerland, and Carpinteria areas.
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 9, 2018
Crews continue to work to clear the highways but looking at photos like this show you just how difficult that task is.
#Hwy101 will remain fully CLOSED from #Hwy126 in Ventura to Milpas St in #SantaBarbara until further notice. Crews/contractors are on site and working to reopen the highway ASAP. pic.twitter.com/LZUDGlyASm
— Caltrans District 5 (@CaltransD5) January 9, 2018
Crews are not just working effortlessly to clear roads but to also save those trapped in homes and cars across the region.
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Kate Mantych