Rain Prompts Flood Advisories In Southern California
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Commuters are experiencing a treacherous commute as a wet storm moves through Southern California, flooding roadways and breaking records for rainfall.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for parts of Los Angeles County as rain fell at a rate of a third of an inch per hour early Tuesday.
Traffic is backed up following crashes on several slick freeways.
Firefighters rescued three people – including at least one person stuck in a tree – along the Los Angeles River, authorities said.
Los Angeles County Fire Department officials say at least 19 apartments were evacuated after water came through the roof of a 3-story building in West Hollywood. No injuries are reported.
Crews were responding to the location along the river at San Fernando and Elm near Elysian Valley Park, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart.
Swift-water rescue crews plucked three people and a dog from a tree as the Los Angeles River swelled from its usual trickle to a raging torrent.
Rescuers were looking for two more victims apparently trapped in thick vegetation along the riverbank just north of downtown, in an area known for homeless encampments, Stewart said.
Robbie Munroe, a weather service meteorologist, says downtown Los Angeles saw more than 1.4 inches, breaking a record for rainfall on this date.
Munroe says the storm formed after a low-pressure system combined with the remnants of a Pacific hurricane.
