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Record rainfall causes flooding in Los Angeles area

September 16, 2015   by Christopher Weber - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


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LOS ANGELES – A record-breaking storm slammed parched Southern California on Tuesday, cutting off power to thousands, jamming traffic during the morning commute and stranding some people in surging waterways.

Downtown Los Angeles saw a staggering 2.39 inches (6.07centimetres), breaking a record for rainfall for the date and marking the second-wettest 24-hour period on record for September, said Robbie Munroe, meteorologist with the United States National Weather Service.

Swift-water rescue crews plucked three people and a dog from tree branches as the Los Angeles River quickly swelled from its usual trickle to a raging torrent.

A swift-water rescue crew helps a man after he was stranded in a tree in the Los Angeles River September 15. 

“Me and my dog, we got caught by the rising waters. We had to climb up a tree to wait it out,” said David Quinones, a homeless man who lives in an encampment along the riverbank just north of downtown. “We were just kind of clinging on for dear life.”

Quinones told KABC-TV that he and his dog were doing OK, and he was going back to the river to check on his camp.

In northeastern Los Angeles County, two people were rescued from a swollen creek near Azusa.

The storm grew after a low-pressure system from the northwest part of the state combined with the remnants of former Hurricane Linda, which formed Sept. 6 in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico and later dissipated off Baja California.

In neighbouring Arizona, the monsoon brought punishing wind and driving rain to the Phoenix area Monday night. Trees and utility poles fell, knocking out power to 18,000 customers, and the Veterans Affairs hospital was damaged. The facility was closed to new admissions, and some patients were relocated.

The main pulse of the Southern California storm hit overnight, then tapered off at midmorning.

Traffic backed up following spinouts and fender benders on several slick freeways.

Gutters overflowed and floodwaters rushed down residential streets throughout greater Los Angeles, stalling cars in intersections. At least 130 elderly people were evacuated after water came through the roof of a three-story assisted-living apartment building in West Hollywood, according to county fire officials.

Widespread power outages were reported. A total of 9,300 customers remained without electricity in the region according to its two major utilities, Southern California Edison and The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The wet weather was not expected to relieve the state’s record drought but could be a harbinger of El Nino, the ocean-warming phenomenon that may bring heavy rain to Southern California this winter, Munroe said.

“El Nino increases your odds for getting more energetic storms, but you can’t really attribute it to any specific storm,” he said. “But a rainfall like this means we’re heading in the right direction.”

 PHOTO:  A swift-water rescue crew helps a man after he was stranded in a tree in the Los Angeles River September 15. Photo by Richard Vogel, The Associated Press

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