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While firefighters are still battling with big and small
fires in California,
the state is also confronted with heavy rains and mudslides. According to The
New York Times, Carma Roper, a spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office
said that, on Sunday, a mudslide caused damage to more than 50 homes. The
residents from Independence, a small city on the
east side of the Sierra Nevada, were evacuated
and taken to a shelter.
Authorities said that the mudslide was caused by thunderstorms
and was 300 yards wide and three feet deep. U.S. 395, which connects the Inland
Empire region to Reno, Nev., was closed for several hours. The rain
also caused flooding in the Sequoia National Forest, at the Erskine
Creek Canyon
in the town of Lake
Isabella, causing the
evacuation of about 75 homes.
Monday, crews continued to clean the mess while the
California Highway Patrol helped vehicles which were along the single lane.
Joe Ramallo, a spokesman from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, said
that the slide was very close to the aqueduct but it suffered no damage. Officials
said that the fire which has been burning for the past three weeks in the Sequoia National Forest
was also a cause of the flooding in Lake
Isabella.
“When rain follows the fire this closely, there's no vegetation
to stop or absorb it,” said Jim Whittington, a fire spokesman at Lake Isabella,
according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The spokesman also said that an important street in the town
was under about 2 feet of water. The water was black and had
debris in it. According to the National Weather Service radar, Sunday’s storms
dropped 3.2 inches of rain in two hours over parts of the fire.
Officials issued flood warnings for areas of five counties.
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