Areas Burned in Fall Bracing for a Major Storm, Flooding

A powerful Pacific storm that could trigger mudslides and flooding in Southern California’s fire-ravaged areas, and dump more than half a foot of rain in some spots starting later today, had emergency officials throughout Southern California bracing Tuesday for the worst.

National Weather Service forecasters predicted that the brunt of the storm would hit tonight and early Thursday, and bring heavy surf and 5 to 6 inches of rain in the foothills and mountains of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and 2 to 4 inches in coastal areas.

San Bernardino County officials Tuesday said they were prepared for the storm, which is expected to drench already saturated hills and leave thousands of residents vulnerable to floods. Christmas Day flash floods killed 15 people in Waterman Canyon and Devore, just below foothills scorched by the October wildfires.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve done a tremendous amount of planning, and this [storm] is definitely putting our plans into motion,” said Tracey Martinez, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. “We’ve done all we can do. We’re as prepared as we can be; we’ll hope for the best and we’ll deal with things as they occur.”

The areas designated as most perilous include Waterman Canyon and Devore, along with Lytle Creek, San Antonio Heights and the foothills above Fontana and the unincorporated county area known as Muscoy. Those locations were part of the 32-mile-wide area destroyed by the Grand Prix and Old fires.

San Bernardino County officials said residents in those areas may wish to evacuate for the duration of the storm.

County spokesman David Wert said the storm is expected to be as powerful as the Christmas Day rains, peaking about 4 a.m. Thursday.

“We know a major storm is coming,” Wert said. “What will come off the hillsides? That’s up to the laws of physics.”

In the last four months, Meryle Maroney has come perilously close to losing her home to the fires and flash floods along Old Waterman Canyon.

Maroney and most of her neighbors have placed sandbags along their property, but she knows they are no match for the creek outside her bedroom window.

“I’m praying that the weathermen are wrong,” Maroney said. “If we have another mudslide or debris flows like on Christmas Day, sandbags are not going to help.”

In Ventura County, where last fall’s brush fires also left slopes barren and unstable, emergency personnel were on alert. Two swift-water rescue teams are being mobilized by the county’s Fire Department, and firefighters will patrol the burned areas around Piru and Simi Valley.

“We’ll be getting wind, rain, snow, just about everything but thunderstorms -- and we might get them on Thursday,” said Bruce Rockwell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

Flash flood warnings were issued for San Bernardino, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, with showers expected to subside Thursday.

Rockwell said coastal flooding would be a possibility, with 30 to 40 mph winds whipping breakers that could run 10 to 16 feet. Mountain runoff also might pose a risk, he said; 2 to 3 feet of snow already tops some peaks and might be hit with strong rain turning to snow as low as 5,000 feet.

San Bernardino County has placed flashing warning signs in Devore reading, “Severe Storm Expected Wed. Night,” and has installed concrete k-rails along one street, hoping to divert flood waters from homes.

Martinez said her agency has deployed one of its two heavy rescue units, equipped to save residents trapped or swept away in floods. It is posted in Devore. The other one remains on standby.

In Devore, George Spellman survived the “jet-roaring” October fires that scorched his 3,900-square-foot home and the fatal floods that followed.

Anticipating another battle, Spellman pointed to the hills above his land, noting that grooves carved in the mountains illustrate how indiscriminate and unpredictable the debris and mud flows behave.

“I had people from the forestry and geology service and the Army Corps of Engineers come out to look at these hills this week,” said Spellman, 61. “They all said ... ‘this is terrible.’ ”