Rare storm pounds Southern California
An out-of-season storm wreaked havoc across parts of Southern California on Saturday with heavy, thundery squalls trapping cars in mud and sending a torrent of polluted water down to the coast.
In perhaps the most dramatic incident, heavy rain sent a river of mud, ash and debris cascading down hillsides in an area called Griffith Park, between the lower San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, blocking a well used highway.
The mudslide is thought to have been responsible for 5 deaths when several cars became swamped by the mud as they stood still at traffic lights. On Sunday, workers arrived with trucks to clear tonnes of debris from the highway. Wildfires earlier in the year were said to be partly to blame for the landslide, having left the hillside stripped.
The storm also sent torrents of polluted water down to the coast. As a result, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health warned the public to avoid entering the ocean water for a few days. However the storm brought some welcome rain to the dry San Fernando Valley.
The rains came after Los Angeles saw its driest season on record (in over a century). Only 81mm (3.21 inches) fell between July 1, 2006 and 2007 in Downtown Los Angeles - nearly one foot below normal. The last significant rains were recorded back in April this year.
While conditions in Southern California have now improved, here in the UK there were several reports of damage on Monday morning as a squall line pushed east across the country.
