Orange County Residents In Burn Scar Areas Keeping Close Watch On Rain Water Coming Down Canyons
SILVERADO CANYON (CBSLA) - For Orange County residents living in burn scar areas, there are concerns that Monday's downpour could cause mudslides.
Locals living in Silverado Canyon are desperate to keep water that's racing down the canyon away from their homes.
"You can't really predict what's going to happen," said homeowner Christine Kaatz, who, like her neighbors, was keeping a close eye on the heavy rainfall to hit the county on Monday.
"There's a little bit, like, boulder movement, but it's not anything too scary. I don't think that we'll ever, ever stop worrying about it, but we're definitely doing a lot better than most," she said.
According to Kaatz's husband, crews have been working on a nearby channel.
"There's a channel over here that they've been cleaning out, Orange County Public Works. So, as long as they can keep that clear and some of the other debris that comes down, then we should be okay," he said.
Across the street, neighbors build a wall of sandbags around their home since hearing the forecast early Monday morning.
"We're still, like, kinda worried about it, but as long as, like, the rain stops, then we're in the clear," homeowner Elvira Arciero said.
Arciero said she can't forget the last big storm that hit in January after the Silverado fire in October. Now, she said, her family is ready.
"The last time when it hit, like it just came out of nowhere. It was raining all night. I woke up and I ran to my window and I look outside and there's just water and mud rushing," she said.
That surprise in January is why owners of at least one house said they plan to keep the wall of sandbags up all winter long.