Storm causes Southern Californian residents to evacuate

January 22, 2010

A storm in the, California area has caused reasons for residents in burn areas to evacuate. Californians in these area braced themselves from mudslides and flash floods due to the expected 25 cm (10 in) of rain yesterday. The (NWS) predicted 3.8 cm (1.5 in) per hour in these fire-affected areas.

Charles Beck, chief, advised residents, "If a Los Angeles police officer comes to your door and tells you to leave: leave. We're not asking you to leave because we think your lawn's going to get dirty, we're not doing it because your carpet's going to get wet. We're doing it because your life is at risk."

Two days prior, the Los Angeles Coast, the NWS issued tornado warnings, a rarity, for the, South Los Angeles, and and areas. There were reports of a tornado touching down at in. The tornado reportedly lifted boats from the water. There were other reports of in the Pacific Ocean.

closed for the remainder of Wednesday afternoon and will reopen on Friday, January 22. Schools in the and  areas were also closed yesterday.

In other areas of Los Angeles, the rain caused minor flooding and large puddles – storm drains overflowed. This storm hit strong from about 15:00 (2300 ) to about 16:30 PST (0030 UTC) Wednesday. It started again rather powerfully at about 17:10 PST (0110 UTC).

A Southern California resident preferring to remain unnamed said this in regards to the storm, "I felt that it was a wonderful change from the super hot weather," in reference to the 26 °C (80 °F) plus temperatures leading into winter.