Residents in La Cañada-Flintridge refuse to evacuate as storm passes over region

As clouds parted this evening over La Cañada Flintridge, residents in areas under mandatory evacuation orders said they were not leaving their homes.

Tony Nefas was busy fortifying his hillside home with sandbags. As he poured sand into bags, he said he had received an evacuation order about 2 p.m. By 6 p.m., authorities had lifted the evacuation order for the Paradise Valley area of La Cañada Flintridge, which covered 64 homes, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Nefas said he was more worried this morning as water roared down the canyon that abuts his house on Ocean View Boulevard.

“It was just a roar as the river flowed by,” said Nefas, 62, who worked in a flood control unit for 35 years with the Army Corps of Engineers.

But Nefas, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 35 years, said he was staying put for the night.

On nearby Ernslow Drive, a tractor scraped mud from the street by Skeet McAuley’s home.

He also said that he was not going anywhere until the next storm comes through.

A series of systems are expected to drop heavy rainfall through Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

“I’m waiting until it starts raining tomorrow,” said McAuley, 58.