The Gamboa family is not sure how they will get back to their home in Wrightwood.
When a powerful atmospheric river began to inundate Southern California this week, they were forced to leave as the surrounding hills melted into a river of mud and debris, which on Friday stood still and solidified in a 3-meter wall that blocked doors and windows.
Since Wednesday, they live with neighbors. They don’t know what the condition is like inside their house or how they will get there, said the owner of the house, Robert Gamboa.
“I’m trying to find things,” Gamboa said. “All that is rock and mud.”
Like many others throughout the South, the Gamboas are waiting to assess the damage from the worst winter storm to hit Southern California in recent memory.
In the past few days, the governor has declared states of emergency in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Shasta counties as the amount of rain and snow continues to rise.
Debris from storm damage covers a car in Wrightwood on Christmas Day.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
More than 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County during a 48-hour period ending Thursday.
In San Gabriel County, crews rescued a woman after she was swept away in San Jose Creek near Fullerton Road and the 60 Freeway.
At Pacoima Wash in San Fernando, a person called 911 to report seeing a woman in fast-moving water, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Crews were using tags to try to locate the woman, who was dressed in all black and was traveling at 25 miles per hour in three waters. They did not find him.
The storm downed trees, caused traffic crashes and knocked out power to thousands across the state. But in the Southland, no area was hit harder than Wrightwood, where the landscape is vulnerable to heavy rain because of the 56,000-acre Bridge fire that burned through the area last year.
In the meantime, Robert Gamboa, his wife and brother, keep warm with a fireplace and wood, using flashlights, and bags of ice from a nearby gas station to make themselves while staying with their neighbor.
His brother at one point suggested they try to shovel their way into the house – at least a four-hour job – but they were reluctant to start when rain continued to fall on Friday, increasing the chances of mud and debris flows.
Misty Cheng looks at the flood damage at her home in Wrightwood.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
On the other hand, community member Misty Cheng, said that it will probably require heavy equipment to see the extent of the damage to her home and many others in the community.
Mud has filled his house on Oriole Road so much that he had to crawl just to get out of it.
“This is not something to say, ‘Well, let’s get neighbors and friends to help us with shovels,'” he said.
He had been preparing before the rain. Now, he is waiting to dig up his house to find out if it is habitable.
He started a GoFundMe page to help repair the damage, or move on if his home can’t be saved.
Roads through and around Wrightwood were also damaged by the storm.
Both directions of Angeles Crest Highway were closed permanently Friday morning from 3.3 miles east of Newcomb’s Ranch near Three Points to State Road 138 at Cajon Junction for emergency work, according to Caltrans.
State Road 173 is closed in both directions from Route 138 to Lake Arrowhead Road with no estimated reopening.
A complete closure of State Road 39 from 2 miles North of Crystal Lake Road to Angeles Crest Highway was also in effect due to the weather.
Big Pines Highway has been closed from Angeles Crest to Largo Vista Road since Friday morning.
Asphalt has washed away on Big Pines Highway and Christmas callers told the California Highway Patrol that hundreds of vehicles were stuck trying to pass large rocks on the road, the CHP reported.
Video posted by Caltrans on X shows the intersection of State 18 and Sheep Creek Road looking like a river on Christmas Eve, with a car possibly stuck in the mud ahead.
And while traffic officials are asking motorists to avoid closed and flooded roads, people were driving along Summit Valley Road from State Road 138 to the Hesperia city limits Friday morning, needing San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies to help.
