Glendora Residents Brace For Potential Mudslides In Anticipation Of Storm
GLENDORA (CBSLA.com) — Residents affected by the recent Colby Fire in Glendora are not hesitating to prepare for California's first winter storm of the year.
Homeowners in the area are worried about potential mudslides near their homes that could be triggered by rain later this week. The Colby Fire, which started on January 16, affected much of the nearby forestry back in January.
KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports the National Weather Service predicts as much as four inches of rain could fall in the area by Saturday, which could produce mud and debris flows.
"We saw the news, and it said the storm was coming this weekend," resident Jim Griffin said. "And so we went down to the city yard and picked up sand bags to try and keep the water from going into our front yards."
Firefighters say that there is still time to fill sandbags before the rain hits, as 90 percent of fire stations in Los Angeles County are reported to have sand bags for concerned owners.
With the memory of a 2010 mudslide in the geologically similar area of Highland fresh in their minds, Glendora residents are motivated to take all necessary precautions.
"The hill structure is pretty much (similar to) Devore and La Canada, and they had some pretty bad mudslides and so we were concerned about that," Griffin said.
Jerry Martin, whose home was affected by the mudslide, has since built a block wall around his property. He has also installed several drains in hopes that history will not repeat itself.
Martin does not know if his home is completely protected at this point, but he is glad to have taken precautions.
"I would say that would come under the hopeful category, because we think we've done all that we can."
Crews lined residential streets with Caltrans temporary railing (K rails) in the hopes of fighting off any slides that may occur.
"When you live here you know what you're in form," resident Dana Bullock said. "We lost some of our backyard (to the Colby Fire), but we're just preparing for the floods that will come through."