LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Heavy rain, thunder and hail Saturday pounded the foothills of La Cañada and La Crescenta, but no major damage was reported.
While lightning was seen at the top of Ocean View Boulevard, no injuries or large debris flows were reported, officials said.
Los Angeles County officials lifted mandatory evacuation orders at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for 224 La Cañada and La Crescenta homes after the threat of debris flows subsided.
“The entire system performed as it was supposed to perform,” said Bob Spencer, Los Angeles County Department Public Works spokesman.
Hundreds of Public Works employees monitored the hillsides and debris basins, including Mullally and Pickens Canyon, for any signs of weakening, he said.
Heavy rain on Feb. 6 overwhelmed the Mullally basin, sending mud and debris onto Ocean View Boulevard, destroying several homes.
Mullally and Pickens Canyon debris basins nearly reached the spillway Saturday morning, Spencer said. Mullally reached 50% capacity, he said.
“But once the rain had passed, the amount of water in the debris basins quickly dissipated, and the water levels started receding,” he said.
When water exceeds the basin and jumps into the spillway, it flows into the flood control channels, Spencer said.
Some rocks and mud washed down from the hillsides onto streets but didn’t cause any major problems, Spencer said.
“You are always going to see mud and debris when it rains, but it’s insignificant,” he said. “We have work crews clean all the roads.”
Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials issued mandatory evacuations Friday, but only 20% of residents complied with the orders, said departmen spokeswoman Nicole Nishida.
Residents have been evacuated six times this winter, and they are growing tired of it, she said.
“We understand it’s an inconvenience to them, and we are definitely acknowledging there is evacuation fatigue,” Nishida said. “However, we are really urging them that every time that we do call for mandatory evacuation that they do heed the warning, because we definitely do have a lot information collected among all three agencies that [residents] definitely don’t have.”
Following evacuation orders is critical, especially when violent debris flows are possible, Spencer said.
