Rain, rain, not going away

With rain expected to drench the city and foothills throughout the weekend, Los Angeles County public works officials advised residents to expect some road closures early Sunday.

All county roads in the Station fire burn area, including Angeles Forest Highway, Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road, may close starting at 2 a.m. Sunday, when the storm is expected to worsen, said Bob Spencer, spokesman for the county Department of Public Works.

"It's not a decision that we take lightly," he said.

The National Weather Service projected 3 to 6 inches of rain for the foothills and mountains over the weekend, with some showers dropping up to a half-inch per hour.

County public safety officials coordinated all day Friday on possible emergency plans for the weekend, Spencer said.

Glendale officials said they would activate their emergency operations center if conditions worsen and mudflows are reported.

But they remained confident that local debris basins would hold up during the storm since most of them had had been cleared since last winter.

"We don't feel that there is a significant threat," said John Takhtalian, assistant to the city manager.

While this weekend's storm is expected to bring significant rainfall, county officials and weather experts are bracing for a stronger rainstorm Tuesday that could cause rockslides and flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

County crews began clearing debris basins and preparing during the summer for storms this winter, Spencer said. Capacity has also been increased at six foothill-area debris basins, with crews removing more than 1 million cubic yards of mud and material.

FYI

To get the latest details on storm preparations, residents can visit the county's Public Works Coordinated Agency Recovery Effort website at http://www.dpwcare.org.

Free sandbags are available at all Glendale Fire Department stations, and at Dunsmore Park, 4700 Dunsmore Ave. Roughly 200 bags filled with sand remain at the park.