LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — Crews focused on cleanup Monday after California got a brief break from severe weather after a powerful storm swelled Los Angeles-area rivers to dangerous levels, flooded roads and dumped snow at elevations as low as about 1,000 feet.
More than 48,000 Californians are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us. The majority are in Maderna County, in Central California, as another wave of storms is expected over the next three days.
Southern California, particularly the Los Angeles area, was slammed with record-breaking rain and snowfall Saturday that uprooted trees and flooded roads.
It also stranded people who are just trying to make their way back home, like Angela Roberts and her family.
Roberts, from South Lake Tahoe, planned what she thought was a perfect camping vacation for her 13-year-old son, Jack, and 5-year-old son, Johnny.
“I planned to take my kids to Joshua Tree for a 4-day camping trip,” Roberts said. “The temperatures went down to below 30 and so we ended up sleeping in our car for three nights.”
They planned to return home Saturday, but the storm hit and almost immediately every path from southern to northern California was shut down. So, Roberts had to find alternative lodging.
“A really good friend of mine ended up booking us a hotel,” Roberts said. “Then, we ended up coming to LA to stay with friends.”
Interstate 5, the West Coast’s major north-south highway, was closed off in both directions due to heavy snow and ice in the Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles. At the entrance to I-5 in Castaic, rain caused mudslides and mobile homes were swept away.
LA’s San Fernando Valley was hit the hardest. Days of downpours dumped almost 11 inches of rain in the Woodland Hills area of San Fernando Valley, while nearly 7 inches were reported in Beverly Hills.
Crews rushed to repair flooded roads and streets and rescue many stranded drivers.
“We were following the traffic and everyone went and our car just got stuck. We’re waiting for a tow truck to come get us out,” one stranded driver recalled.
In Valencia, north of LA, county officials said the heavy rains eroded an embankment at an RV park and swept multiple motorhomes into the Santa Clara River, with emergency video showing one of the vehicles toppled on its side. No one was reported injured.
After fierce winds toppled trees and downed wires, about 65,000 utility customers remained without electricity statewide as of Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. The majority of the outages were in LA.
Suburban Santa Clarita, in hills north of LA, received its first significant snowfall since 1989.
“We went outside and we let our sons play in the snow,” resident Cesar Torres told the Santa Clarita Signal. “We figured, while the snow’s there, might as well make a snowman out of it.”
The weather service said Mountain High, one of the closest ski resorts to LA, received an eye-popping 7.75 feet of snow during the last storm, with more possible this week.
“Extremely dangerous and near to impossible mountain travel is expected due to heavy snow and strong wind,” the weather service’s Sacramento office warned on Twitter.
Roberts hopes she and her sons can finally return home Monday. If not, she said, “We’re gonna have to get a hotel somewhere along the way.”
Blizzard warnings go into effect at 4 a.m. Monday and will last until Wednesday for much of the Sierra Nevada.
Rare blizzard warnings for Southern California mountains and widespread flood watches ended late Saturday. But Interstate 5, the West Coast’s major north-south highway, was closed off and on due to heavy snow and ice in the Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles. Emergency crews, meanwhile, worked to clear mountain roads east of LA of snow and ice.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.