Mudslides damage homes, bury roads and cars in Southern California
By CNN Meteorologist Chris Dolce
Deep mudslides and flash flooding hit Southern California Thursday after drenching thunderstorms fed by the moisture of former Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Mario spread over the region.
The Oak Glen, Forest Falls and Potato Canyon areas of San Bernardino County were particularly hard hit. Mud and debris flows impacted multiple homes and covered roads across the area, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, San Bernardino County Fire said.
About 10 people traveling in six to seven vehicles were stuck on Highway 38 as debris covered the road in both directions, the fire department said Thursday evening.
Just north, in the city of Barstow, a search was underway for a 2-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters Thursday evening, CNN affiliate KABC reported.
Numerous homes were told to shelter in place in the Oak Glen area, but no injuries had been reported, according to the Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit Public Information Office. Damage assessment teams will begin evaluating properties Friday morning.
Oak Glen and Forest Falls were the site of another mudslide that swept into homes and roads in September 2022. Cal Fire has said both mudslides are linked to the 2020 El Dorado wildfire burn scar, CNN affiliate ABC7 in Los Angeles reported. That fire was sparked by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party.
Rain tends to run off rapidly on fire scarred land — especially in steep terrain — increasing flash flooding risks even when a storm’s rainfall isn’t extreme. Combined with thunderstorms packing intense rainfall rates, it was the perfect recipe for mudslides and flooding Thursday.
One location near Forest Falls reported 1.77 inches of rain in a single hour. Big Bear Lake in the mountains north of the community averages less than a half-inch of rain in September.
September is still in the tail end of the dry season in much of Southern California, but a boost of tropical moisture from former Tropical Storm Mario combined with energy from warm afternoon sunshine to generate thunderstorms over the state’s mountains and deserts Thursday afternoon.
Flooding from thunderstorms also impacted roads in desert locations of southeast California. Death Valley National Park was under a flash flood warning early Friday morning, with water and debris covering State Route 190 near Furnace Creek, according to local officials.
The flash flood threat has ended in Southern California heading into Friday. But lingering moisture from Mario could still trigger localized flooding California’s Sierra Nevada and other parts of the Desert Southwest.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
