Torrential rain and strong winds wreaked havoc across the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys on Friday, electrocuting one man by a downed power line, trapping motorists in more than 2 feet of water on the 5 Freeway, stranding thousands without power, and a leaving a swath of property damage.
Firefighters rescued at least eight people from “swift-moving” water at San Fernando Road and Tuxford Street in Sun Valley as well as in flooded areas of the Sepulveda Basin.
On the 5 Freeway, reports said water had risen to 2 1/2 feet, California Highway Patrol Officer Stephan Brandt said Friday afternoon.
“There’s flooding inside people’s vehicles,” Brandt said. “People are calling hysterically. It’s pretty chaotic.”
By 4 p.m., the National Weather Service had reported 4.02 inches of rain had fallen in Canoga Park; 3.08 inches in Woodland Hills, and 3.46 inches in Agoura Hills.
The rain was expected to taper off this morning, although showers and a chance of thunderstorms were possible through the day.
Friday’s storm, said to be the biggest in a decade in drought-stricken L.A., got off to a slow start. But by noon, it came with a vengeance, bolstered by strong winds that brought a flurry of reports of downed power lines and trees toppling onto homes and cars.
“We have stuff all over the Valley,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Daniel Curry on Friday afternoon. “It’s been very busy.”
• PHOTOS: Monstrous storm brings rain, chaos in San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys
• In Sherman Oaks, a 55-year-old man was electrocuted after a tree branch fell, taking out power lines and landing on a vehicle.
The unidentified man apparently was touched by the electrified line or somehow had contact with the charged water, police said.
The incident, one of several in the San Fernando Valley, was reported at 12:43 p.m. at 5300 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, LAPD Sgt. Jack Richter said.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said on Friday he did not know where the man was in relation to the power lines or vehicle.
• Los Angeles firefighters plucked three people out of the water from within the flooded Sepulveda Basin on Friday. One of the rescued was treated at a nearby hospital, fire officials reported.
• Meanwhile, a Swift Water Rescue Team employed an inflatable boat to whisk four others and two dogs to safety, Scott said.
The rescue began shortly after 2 p.m. at 16400 Burbank Blvd. in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, an area flooded by rising water during the torrential storm.
Scott said firefighters employed a rope system stretched across the water to walk the three stranded residents to safety, one of whom was treated for a nonlife-threatening injury.
Downed trees and lines were a theme throughout the day.
• The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Valley station posted updates to its Twitter with photos of downed trees on Parvin Drive in Saugus, in a parking lot on Bouquet Canyon Road, and on McBean Parkway near the California Institute of the Arts. One tree at Tournament Road and McBean fell on a car with a motorist inside, officials said. Downed power lines also were reported throughout the area.
• In Westwood, near UCLA’s campus, one apartment resident came inches away from injury when a 75-foot tree crashed through the roof, landing inches from a bed the resident was lying on, according to the Fire Department.
That incident happened just before 12:15 p.m. on the 600 block of Kenton Avenue.
“Fortunately, no one was injured,” Scott said.
Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety officials red-tagged four of the six units, as unsafe due to structural compromises. Sixteen college students were evacuated from the building as a precaution, Scott added.
Between noon and 4 p.m. Friday, Scott said LAFD personnel responded to nearly 150 “wires down” incidents stemming from 911 calls.
Flooded roadways
Flooding was already taking its toll in the Lake Balboa and Encino areas, as the Los Angeles Police Department closed the eastbound right two lanes of Burbank Boulevard, just east of Balboa Boulevard. Ultimately, they closed down the entire Sepulveda Basin, a major rush-hour thoroughfare.
But the basin closure was only a warning of things to come. Deluged roadways stranded commuters across the region.
• MAPPING THE STORM: Follow along as we track Southern California weather-related incidents using this map
Up to an inch of rain per hour had been expected in some areas, in part, because the storm has been tapping into a so-called atmospheric river over the Pacific, sucking up volumes of warm subtropical moisture, forecasters said. Estimates were that the region would receive 2 to 6 inches of rain in coastal and valley areas and between 5 and 10 inches in the San Gabriel mountains and foothills.
Authorities had been bracing for the storm’s punch, with added personnel deployed.
“This is one of the worst kind of days,” said Richter of the LAPD. “We’re not only going to get wet. We worry about traffic running into us. Getting to a call on time. Being able to see what’s going on.
It’s very, very challenging.”
Power outages
The storm also knocked out power for more than 60,000 homes across the region, as strong winds knocked trees into power lines, Los Angeles-area utilities reported.
By 4 p.m., roughly 61,000 homes across Los Angeles were without juice in neighborhoods from Hyde Park to Sherman Oaks to Canoga Park, as winds and rain roared across the entire region, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Southern California Edison reported 22,500 of their customers were without power as of 3 p.m.
“The utility is working hard to restore power to all customers as quickly and safely as possible with crews working around the clock,” the LADWP, which has 1.5 million customers, said in a statement. “LADWP staff will continue to work around the clock as the storm progresses.”
Neighborhoods suffering the worst power outages were Hyde Park, with 3,300 homes and businesses without power; Larchmont, with 3,200; Mid-Wilshire, with 1,600; Van Nuys, with 2,000 customers; Canoga Park with 3,055; and Sherman Oaks, with 3,300 customers without electricity.
The LADWP said the most frequent causes of power outages during storms were downed trees, dead palm fronds and falling tree branches making contact with power lines.
The wind — with 60 mph gusts predicted — was big factor.
There were a “tremendous” amount of wires being downed, said LAFD Capt. Daniel Curry said.
“The wind is definitely creating havoc more than the rain,” he said earlier in the day.
Impact on business
Franklin’s Hardware in Woodland Hills had a predictable slowdown in business because of the hard rains on Friday, but customers were busy before the storm purchasing tarps, flashlights and batteries, said co-owner Kim Kurzeka.
“When it lets up, likely around 3 or 4 p.m., we’ll get a good rush of people in for the weekend,” Kurzeka said.
Frank Warga, 52, of Topanga Canyon came into the store to purchase a rain suit on Friday so he could work outdoors on a construction site.
“I don’t mind the rain,” Warga said. “I love the rain and the mud and snow. I look forward to the roads closing and stomping around the mud.”
Ruthann Levison, who said she has lived in a home on Sand Canyon Road in Santa Clarita with her husband, Mike, since 1983, stayed inside during the storm, which began at 2 p.m.
“We’ve had steady, solid rain, but I wouldn’t call it torrential,” said Levison, the communications director for the Sand Canyon Homeowners Association and parks commissioner for the city of Santa Clarita just before 10 a.m. Friday. “I haven’t left my house. I’m staying dry.”
The storm prompted numerous flight cancellations throughout the region, stranding would-be travelers at local airports.
Southwest Airlines advised that its flights may be delayed, diverted or canceled through today for travelers to and from Burbank, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, Ontario, San Diego and several Northern California airports.
Nearly 3 inches of rain fell in the Van Nuys area over a 24-hour period, according to the NWS. A record 1.96 inches fell at Long Beach Airport, breaking the daily rainfall record of 1.81 inches set in 1980. A record 0.59 inches fell in Lancaster, breaking the 2005 record of 0.23 inches.
Staff writers Dana Bartholomew and Greg Wilcox contributed to this story.
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