Dec 15, 2008 2:00 pm US/Pacific
2 Dead, Hundreds Evacuated In SoCal Winter Storms
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Snowfall in Fort Irwin, San Bernardino County.
Elizabeth Sinclair/CBS/CBS
A powerful storm has hit California with rain and snow Monday, snarling roads, triggering two traffic fatalities, collapsing the roof of an occupational school and forcing hundreds of people to flee homes in a suburb at risk of mudslides.
About 20,000 utility customers have lost power because of the storm.
Heavy snow closed the main route connecting Las Vegas to Southern California in the mountainous Cajon Pass east of Los Angeles.
North of the city, the main route connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco was snarled by snowfall that forced the California Highway Patrol to shepherd motorists across the Tejon Pass in caravans.
CHP officials say those killed include a 29-year-old CHP officer directing traffic around a crash in Hacienda Heights. One person was killed and another injured in the San Diego area when an armored truck rolled down an embankment.
Heavy rain also appears responsible for the collapse of an Anaheim adult school's roof. Seven people were injured and 100 students and teachers evacuated.
In Yorba Linda, where 100 homes were lost to a wildfire last month, hundreds of homes in the canyon areas on the east end of town were ordered evacuated Monday morning. Residents had been advised to leave as early as Sunday night and an evacuation center was opened at the city's Tommy Lasorda Jr. Field House.
"It is mandatory now, unknown duration," Lt. Jim Tibbetts of the Brea Police Department, which patrols Yorba Linda, said Monday.
The storm was part of the same upper low pressure system that brought heavy snow to Portland, Ore., on Sunday, snarling traffic and delaying airline flights out of that city, said National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Van Horn.
"It's making it's way south down the West Coast," Van Horn said. "It's going to be the cause for any sort of showers we will have now through Wednesday.
Rainfall totals for Southern California on Monday morning ranged from 1 inch at Moorpark to nearly 2 inches at Glendale. Snow was falling in areas above 3,000 feet, and the Lockwood Valley in the mountains of Ventura County had been hit with 8 inches by midmorning.
The storm was expected to linger in the area through Wednesday, Van Horn said, although showers were expected to be scattered and lighter on Tuesday and Wednesday.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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