Southland Gets a Rare Dose of Summer Rain

Rare August rain Tuesday gave Southern Californians a reprieve from the dog days of summer, along with flash flooding, power outages and snarled traffic.

In Twentynine Palms, waves of water shoved vehicles off roads and washed mud into nearby homes.

Six people in the Yucca Valley area were rescued from vehicles mired in the flooding, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. No one was injured.

Several desert thoroughfares were blocked when 3-foot waves poured over shallow sections of the roads, and some cars were partially buried in mud.

In the Los Angeles area, police reported twice as many traffic accidents during the Tuesday morning rush hour as they recorded a week ago, when it was dry and sunny.

There were no deaths or injuries early Tuesday on area freeways, but 77 collisions were reported between 5 and 9 a.m., compared to 45 in the same period a week ago, the California Highway Patrol said.

Sunny skies are forecast for today after morning clouds and patchy fog burn off, with afternoon highs in the 70s to mid-80s.

Tuesday’s precipitation was the first measurable August rain in Los Angeles County since 1990, National Weather Service spokesman Ray Tanabe said.

Most Los Angeles County communities got less than a quarter-inch of rain. About a third of an inch fell in the valleys and mountains, but communities along the coast mostly had just fog and drizzle.

Van Nuys and Northridge reported about a third of an inch of rain, while the beach cities, downtown Los Angeles and areas bordering Ventura County received only about 0.05 of an inch.

About 2,300 residential and commercial customers in the Borrego Springs area lost power Tuesday afternoon when a fierce thunderstorm felled several power poles, a San Diego Gas & Electric Co. spokesman said.

The thunderstorm caused street flooding in the desert town, and the Highway Patrol said a few low-lying roads were closed by flash floods and washouts between there and the Salton Sea.

In Twentynine Palms, two teenage girls returning home from the first day of their senior year in high school were rescued by fellow motorists after they were swept away trying to flee a car trapped in fast-moving floodwaters.

“I thought I could get through it, but we got stuck. I tried to put it in reverse, but we just went down that way,” said driver Jamie Hall, gesturing toward a stream of water pouring across the road.

Passenger Autumn Neblanc said she was knocked under the muddy water when she left the car and tried to wade to higher ground.

“My folder, my school work. Everything went down that way,” she said. “My shoes went down that way.”

Steady rain slicked the Antelope Valley Freeway, causing a tractor-trailer to overturn about midnight near Soledad Canyon and trapping the driver in his cab, the Highway Patrol said.

The man suffered a crushed leg and was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, authorities said.

In Orange County eight traffic accidents were reported, none of them serious.

About 2,400 utility customers in Hollywood lost power for 90 minutes after wind knocked a palm frond into electrical lines at 3:42 a.m. Tuesday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported.

*

Times staff writers Elise Gee and Stephanie Stassel contributed to this story.