The emergency message crackled over the car radio, warning listeners of looming flash floods.
Wayne Foss of Lancaster dismissed it without a second thought and continued on his way to an afternoon business meeting in nearby Lake Hughes.
But Foss found himself caught in a raging storm, with golf-ball-size hail falling and the road home submerged by fast-moving rain, mud and debris.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before, and I’ve lived in Southern California since I was 11,” he said. “It got really scary really quick.”
Northern Los Angeles County was pummeled Thursday by a series of torrential downpours that caused mudslides and flash floods that inundated roads, trapped drivers and forced the closure of nearly 40 miles of Interstate 5, cutting off California’s main north-south artery.
1/43
An L.A. County fire crew digs a car out of the mud covering Lake Elizabeth Road where its owner, Esther Shelton of Palmdale, abandoned it.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 2/43
Jason DeBerge, 45, continues to dig out his mud ravaged home in Lake Hughes on Saturday, two days after a torrential rainstorm sent debris-laden floodwater through his neighborhood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3/43
Addy Markley removes mud and debris from her Antelope Valley home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4/43
Beekeeper Juan Zavala of Bakersfield works to calm a big rig carrying a load of live bees that got stuck in a mudslide on California 58 east of Tehachapi.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 5/43
Beekeepers use smoke and water to calm a load of live bees on an 18-wheeler that got stuck in a mudslide east of Tehachapi. Crews continue to unearth vehicles trapped in up to 20 feet of mud after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 6/43
Randy Eisenbeiss of Lake Hughes works on his mud-encrusted SUV with the help of his neighbor, Gian Guadagno, 10.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 7/43
Cody Cooper, center, and Addy Markley get help from Johnnie Baldyga digging through mud that inundated their Antelope Valley home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8/43
Jason DeBerge, 45, wipes mud from his feet as he tries to remove damaged carpet from his Lake Hughes home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 9/43
Jason DeBerge rests for a moment in his mud-ravaged backyard in Lake Hughes.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10/43
Patio furniture is stuck in several inches of mud outside the home of Jason DeBerge.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 11/43
Bill Beaury of Golden Empire Towing supervises the removal of vehicles encased in mud on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. Caltrans is moving mud and debris so that the vehicles can be removed.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 12/43
Hundreds of vehicles sit buried in the mud on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 13/43
Gary Lumpkins of Golden Empire Towing jumps down a high cement barricade on California 58 east of Tehachapi where up to 20 feet of mud and debris pummeled the area earlier in the week and forced drivers to flee.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 14/43
Mud, rocks and other debris surround big-rigs, trucks and cars on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 15/43
Caltrans workers shovel tons of mud and debris on California 58 so that hundreds of vehicles trapped in the mudslide area east of Tehachapi can be removed.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 16/43
Big-rigs are trapped on California 58 east of Tehachapi.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 17/43
Nearly 200 vehicles were trapped on California 58 east of Tehachapi forcing drivers to abandon their vehicles and big-rigs.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 18/43
Vehicles are now being allowed on Northbound lanes of Interstate-5 in Fort Tejon at the top of the Grapevine Friday afternoon.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 19/43
A sandal is left behind where a car was buried up to the windows in a mudslide on Elizabeth Lake Road.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 20/43
Sweepers clean mud from the closed Interstate 5 on Friday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 21/43
Andrew Saenz, 7, reads as his mom, Denise Saenz, tries to make a call in the front seat in Fort Tejon where they were stranded on Friday morning. The family was unable to get home and had to spend the night on the road.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 22/43
Tony Hemming uses a shovel to dig his car out of a mudslide on Elizabeth Lake Road on Friday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 23/43
A bulldozer clears mud from Lake Elizabeth Road after several cars were inundated after a deluge Thursday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 24/43
Several cars on Elizabeth Lake Road are inundated with mud after the deluge .
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 25/43
Steve Ring and Simone Gonzales have been stuck in Fort Tejon at the top of the Grapevine since 6 p.m. Thursday. “We have a place to sleep and have food. We just don’t know when we’ll be able to leave,” Gonzales said.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 26/43
A big-rig sits stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 27/43
Big-rigs sit stranded on California 58 as cleanup operations are underway in the Tehachapi area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 28/43
TV cameraman Monte Duarte is helped off California 58 after he became stuck in the mud and was assisted by California Highway Patrol Officer Edward Stewart and photographer Travis Geske, background.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 29/43
Big-rigs sit stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 30/43
An unidentified man navigates thick mud near stranded big-rigs on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 31/43
A motorist tries to dig a vehicle out of the mud along Elizabeth Lake Road.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 32/43
Several cars on Elizabeth Lake Road are inundated with mud after a deluge Thursday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 33/43
California Highway Patrol officers give motorists directions at the intersection of California 14 and 58. California 58 remains closed after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 34/43
A camper sits stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed after 200 vehicles, including 75 tractor-trailers, were trapped east of Tehachapi in up to 20 feet of mud.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 35/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 36/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 37/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 38/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 39/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 40/43
A storm hit the Antelope Valley and Lake Hughes area with rain, hail and mudslides that left motorists stranded.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) 41/43
Bouquet Canyon Road is covered in mud after a storm hit the Antelope Valley.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) 42/43
Interstate 5 remains closed Friday morning with possible rain later in the afternoon.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 43/43
As the storm clears, floodwaters cover Bouquet Canyon Road in the Lake Hughes area.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) Officials said there was no timetable for Interstate 5 to reopen because the freeway was engulfed by mud and debris, and dozens of stranded vehicles will have to be cleared.
Dozens of firefighters responded to the Lake Hughes area, where mudslides flowed across and along roadways, engulfing some cars.
Firefighters had to use a helicopter to rescue four stranded people and their dogs. In the Elizabeth Lake area, mud surrounded homes.
No injuries had been reported by late Thursday, but authorities said rescue crews would continue to search affected areas through the night.
The Leona Valley was the hardest hit, with rain reportedly falling at a rate of 4 to 5 inches an hour and winds gusting to 60 mph. That storm eventually diminished, but as it moved eastward it brought record daily rainfall to Palmdale.
The strong showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through Saturday, said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
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A rare confluence of factors led to the heavy, sustained rainfall, he said.
Southern California is experiencing unusually high humidity, which joined forces with a low-pressure system bringing in tropical airflow from the south.
That, combined with additional moisture in the atmosphere from high ocean temperatures, created a very warm, humid air mass over the region.
This exacerbated the thunderstorms, causing
the torrential rain, Sirard said.
“These storms were moving very slowly and dumping tremendous amounts of rain,” he said. “Very unusual factors have played a role in the flooding today — lots of humidity and just the right amount of instability in the atmosphere.”
As Michael Henderson left his job in Lancaster for his evening drive home to the Leona Valley, he was shocked to see that the roads had seemingly become rivers. Emergency vehicles zoomed past him in every direction.
“It was just panic,” Henderson said. “I’m in an intersection with gushing water and I knew I couldn’t stop, but I couldn’t keep going because I couldn’t see.”
He turned off the road and took shelter under an awning at a roadside store until it was safe to continue. He made it home after two hours, with the sun setting on mud and debris on the roadways.
Henderson and his family moved to the Leona Valley less than a year ago and hadn’t seen much in the way of weather until now.
“This is quite an introduction,” he said.
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