Today’s forecast is much the same as Wednesday’s: strong gusts and torrential rains, bringing fears of mud flows and flooding.
School officials ordered Clark Magnet High, Rosemont Middle, and Monte Vista, Dunsmore, Mountain Avenue and Valley View elementary schools to close today.
Before the powerful storm touched down Wednesday, Los Angeles County and Glendale officials warned residents of mudflows in Acton, North Glendale, La Crescenta and La Cañada Flintridge, concerned about filling debris basins and the danger of large quantities of runoff and debris moving into neighborhoods.
Mandatory evacuations started at 9 a.m. for 489 homes in those areas. Another 23 homes in La Cañada were ordered to evacuate midday Wednesday.
Of the 348 homes in Glendale’s jurisdiction, only four homeowners decided to ride out the storm, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Another 12 homes were ordered to evacuate in the Glenoaks Canyon area.
“People up here are pretty receptive,” he said.
Residents responded positively to evacuation requests from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, said Nicole Nishida, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
“We had really good compliance,” she said, adding residents had to sign a notice stating that they understood they weren’t going to be allowed to re-enter their neighborhoods.
Sheriff’s deputies reassured residents that they would be patrolling the neighborhoods to make sure their homes and property were safe, Nishida said.
Not everyone simply packed up and left.
“I’m going to check it out,” said Arthur Park, of Quail Canyon Road in North Glendale, one of the areas ordered to evacuate. He wanted to wait and see how his neighbors reacted to the recommendations from authorities.
