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Your GPW Editor-on-Occasion is Petra Fried in the City.
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stories along The Way

Saturday, February 6, 2010

10 homes destroyed by mudslides

Sadly, the press is loving this.

From CBS 2/KCAL 9
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LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (CBS)

Foothill Burn areas were hammered by heavy rain overnight and at least ten houses in La Canada Flintridge were destroyed by a deluge of debris.

Mud carried away cement K-rail barricades on Ocean View Boulevard, and tossed cars into storm drains.

"Everywhere we look, we see destruction, just home after home," said CBS2 reporter-pilot Larry Welk. "Heavy K-rails are just tossed around."

A hillside gave away on Manistee Drive, a cul-de-sac off Ocean View Boulevard, sending mud into a home.

"It was about 5 a.m. and it was really loud, so I decided to get up," said Jennifer Dickens, who lives near the damaged house. "I saw this wave coming. It was like a waterfall hitting the house."

No injuries were reported, but the mud blasted through barrier walls and flooded the home.

Dickens said another neighbor's car got swept away overnight.

La Canada Flintridge resident Tony Nefas said mud came over the top of a three-foot retaining wall and flowed into his house on Ocean View Boulevard.

"We had a lot of time to prepare for this, but this was bigger than anything we have ever seen," Nefas said.

Sheriff's deputies evacuated several homes off of Fairhurst Drive near Rock Castle Drive. Mudslides also were reported overnight on Blanchard Canyon Road in the Tujunga area, and a Los Angeles Fire Department engine reportedly got stuck in mud near Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Oro Vista Avenue.

A city fire spokesman said Nichols Canyon Road in the Hollywood Hills was closed due to debris flow.