Intense rain pelted the Southland overnight early Saturday, flooding buildings, downing power lines, snarling traffic and causing at least four rain-related deaths. The region is bracing for one more significant storm today but has so far been spared major damage.
The latest storm, blasting in from the northern Pacific Ocean, was expected to arrive early this morning and dump up to an inch of rain along the coast and up to 2 inches in the mountains. As much as 8 inches of snow was expected at higher elevations.
Between Thursday and 4 p.m. Saturday, 1.54 inches of rain had fallen in downtown Los Angeles, 4.94 inches in Claremont and 5.16 inches in Monte Nido, near the Los Angeles and Ventura county line.
The weekend rainfall, which National Weather Service forecasters say should be the heaviest in three years, has already exceeded downtown L.A.'s seasonal average for this time of year. Since July 1, downtown has received 5.3 inches of rain, more than an inch above the 4.23-inch norm.
But water managers and climatologists say it would take a series of such storms to alleviate the region's prolonged drought. Conditions have been exceedingly dry for nearly three years, and every other major source of water has also experienced drought, including the Sierra and the Colorado River Basin.
As a result, several Southern California cities are initiating conservation efforts and discussing the possibility of water rationing.
Though heavy rains this weekend took their toll, the region thus far has escaped the major flooding and catastrophic mudslides officials feared.
Canyon flooding was limited. Hillsides denuded of vegetation after last year's wildfires remained largely intact.
At least four people died in road-related accidents.
In Chino, a 25-year-old woman was swept to her death in a flash flood early Saturday. Lindsey Marie Erickson of Corona was driving home with her boyfriend from dinner in Chino. She was traveling east on Chino Corona Road about 1 a.m. when her pickup truck was swept away by 8-foot-high waters in Mill Creek.
Erickson's body was found several hundred yards south of the truck. Her boyfriend, Rene Valencia, 36, managed to free himself from the vehicle and cling to a nearby tree until help arrived, said Corona Police Lt. Al Cheatham.
Three other storm-related deaths were reported on Los Angeles County freeways. A 27-year-old San Fernando woman, Katarina Chavez, died when the Honda she was riding in slammed into the rear of a fire engine about 9 p.m. Friday on the rain- and wind-swept Antelope Valley Freeway.
