Storm Triggers Nearly 400 Accidents

A subtropical storm drenched much of Southern California with as much as 4 1/2 inches of rain Friday, triggering nearly 400 traffic accidents in the Los Angeles area, including one that killed a patient being transported in an ambulance.

Two people trapped in flood channels escaped serious injury when swift-water teams pulled them to safety.

The rain shorted out power to about 1,800 customers in the Park La Brea and Brentwood areas. Runoff invaded five houses in Claremont and left several vehicles floating, but sandbagging diverted the water, preventing further damage.

Officials warned late Friday that the danger had not passed. Another storm system looms next week, and the area remains saturated from the record rains of December and January.

“We’re holding our breath,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Carlos Calvillo said Friday. “The longer this storm goes, the bigger the chance there’s going to be mudslides. And we want to reiterate to the public that the flood channels fill up quickly. People need to be wary.”

About 3:40 a.m. Friday, a driver lost control of a medical transport van on the rain-slick Santa Ana Freeway near the Pomona Freeway interchange in Boyle Heights. The vehicle skidded into a freeway sign and flipped, California Highway Patrol Officer Alex Delgadillo said.

Cosme Huertero, 26, of Los Angeles was pronounced dead at the scene. Brenda Shafer of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Huertero was being transported to a dialysis appointment. The driver was treated for minor injuries, Delgadillo said.

A 23-year-old man died when his Ford Mustang skidded into a guardrail on the Ventura Freeway in Glendale about 1:30 a.m., the CHP said.

The CHP recorded 380 collisions for the Los Angeles region between midnight and 9 a.m. Friday, compared with 104 for the same period a week earlier, when it was dry.

Los Angeles firefighters plucked a 13-year-old boy from the Los Angeles River about 4 p.m. near the 2700 block of East Washington Boulevard. The boy, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital but appeared to be uninjured, Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.

Earlier, Los Angeles County firefighters rescued a driver whose delivery truck crashed through a guardrail and plunged into a wash in Valencia. The man, who was not identified, was rescued by helicopter from atop the vehicle.

The storm brought the first significant rainfall since a 4-day downpour last month caused widespread damage and killed 10 in a mudslide that buried part of the Ventura County community of La Conchita.

Friday’s storm, which came from the southwest, drew fears of new mudslides, but authorities reported no major problems. Forecasters said showers may linger through this evening, and another weather system could blow in by Tuesday.

The National Weather Service said 1.67 inches of rain had fallen on downtown Los Angeles by 4 p.m. Friday, raising the total since the season began July 1 to 24.52 inches. That’s almost three times the normal total by Feb. 11. Other daily totals by 4 p.m. Friday included 4.55 inches at Opids Camp in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena, 2.49 inches in Chatsworth, 2.46 in Pasadena, 2.0 in Simi Valley, 1.67 in Torrance, 1.27 in Chino and .93 in Ontario.

Because the storm system was relatively warm, forecasters said snowfall would remain above 8,000 feet.

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Times staff writers Natasha Lee and Ann Simmons contributed to this report.