Heavy Rains Cause Mudslides, Flood Streets, Freeways

A fast-moving storm soaked the San Fernando Valley on Saturday evening, flooding streets and freeways, collapsing the roof of a house in Sylmar and causing numerous traffic accidents.

The Antelope Valley and the eastern edge of the Valley were hardest hit, awash in 3.5 inches of rain in some areas, according to Craig Denny, meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Woodland Hills received more than 3 inches before the rain subsided late Saturday. Los Angeles police said the Sepulveda Basin was closed early Saturday and by evening the entire basin was flooded, police said.

In Santa Clarita, California Highway Patrol officials reported a mudslide along the Golden State Freeway between the Antelope Freeway junction and the Calgrove Boulevard exit. Both lanes of the freeway were flooded and strewn with rocks and mud, officials said. Farther north on the Golden State, a CHP officer was injured when his cruiser was involved in a two-car accident in Santa Clarita. The accident happened just before 6 p.m. on the northbound lanes near McBean Parkway, said CHP Officer Karen Faciane.

A car spun out of control and hit the center divider before running into the officer’s patrol car, according to preliminary accounts, Faciane said.

The officer and injured motorist were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. The officer’s injuries were not life-threatening, CHP officials said.

The roof collapsed on a vacant structure at 12700 N. San Fernando Road in Sylmar. A mudslide damaged a house at Calle Vista Court in Porter Ranch. No one was injured.

In Encino, an elm tree fell on two parked cars at Newcastle and Louise avenues, police said.

In the northern San Fernando Valley, firefighters rescued several motorists from their cars at flooded intersections.

Caltrans officials reported that the Golden State Freeway at the Lankershim Boulevard exit was flooded, as were southbound lanes at the Reseda Boulevard exit on the Ventura Freeway, and between the Haskell Avenue and Hayvenhurst Street exits. Police reported numerous road closures due to the rain.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported 1,500 power outages caused by the rain in the Valley with hardest hit areas in Woodland Hills and Canoga Park.