Evacuees return after rain subsides

Hundreds of residents of this rural eastern Orange County community returned home late Friday and early Saturday after a mandatory evacuation was lifted at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

The evacuation was called by county emergency personnel after higher than expected rainfall triggered small mudslides on steep, bare slopes above the canyon floor. The area was severely burned in October’s Santiago fire.

Much of Modjeska Canyon Road was still a slippery, dirt-covered lane by midday Saturday, with piles of sodden earth plowed several feet high in spots along the sides.

Authorities have warned residents here and in other badly burned areas of Southern California that they could face repeated evacuations during rainstorms for the next year or two because of the risk of major mudslides and flooded creeks.

-- Janet Wilson