Valley Begins to Dry Out After Storms

The Valley and much of Southern California began drying out Sunday, having weathered what meteorologists were calling the last in a record-breaking series of storms that killed at least seven people and put emergency services to a harrowing test.

Although a few scattered mudslides continued to cause detours, law enforcement officials throughout the region reported that most roads, while soggy, were cleared. Seemingly spent, the skies dropped only a spattering of rain and gave many residents a welcome glimpse of the sun.

Steve Burback of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the dry weather may last only until Tuesday morning, when another storm is expected to hit the California coast. Part of a warmer, tropical system now hovering northeast of Hawaii, this storm will bring some scattered showers, Burback predicted, but nothing to match the deluge of recent days.

“The worst is now in the past,” Burback said.

In Los Angeles County, the California Highway Patrol on Sunday reported none of the flooding that had for days made many roadways treacherous. Road crews spent Sunday remedying damage caused by the recent pounding rains.

In Malibu, the California Department of Transportation closed off a section of Topanga Canyon Road near Pacific Coast Highway to blow up boulders on the road.

Engineers with Southern Pacific railroad continued to repair a trestle in Ventura County that has rendered the tracks between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara unusable.

At Mt. Baldy in San Bernardino County, more than 40 snowshoe-clad volunteers spent another fruitless day looking for two skiers missing since Tuesday.

In Ventura County, 20,000 cubic yards of mud and rocks slid onto Highway 150 six miles west of Ojai early Sunday, forming a six-mile barrier that officials said could take more than a week for them to clean up.

Around the San Fernando Valley, many residents fled the confines of their homes to enjoy the lulls between occasional drizzling.

“We could only watch the Olympics so much,” said Steve Payton, 43, whose 7-year-old son played on a swing set in a crowded Northridge Park.

At DaMoor Farms, a Granada Hills stable where 40 horses had to be evacuated last week because of a mudslide, employees and volunteers were cleaning up flooded stalls.

“The true loyal horse people are here with their horses,” said owner Charlotte Davis. “The rest of them are in malls today.”

Times staff writers Carlos Lozano, Nancy Ray, George Frank and Tammerlin Drummond contributed to this report.

HILLSIDES: Residents in Santa Monica Mountains communities assess the damage to their homes. B3