LINDSEY BAGUIO
Staff Writer
THIS WAY: Mudslides and tumbling rocks rushed onto
Pacific Coast Highway during the heavy rainstorms,
causing lane and later road closures.
Graham Shea / Asst. Photo Editor
Joey Gushiken sits and watches as the dump truck shovels the mud across from his home. One truck right after another carries away the dirt, on a rainy Monday morning, as mud flows down the hill from Gushiken’s home a mile-and-a-half away from the Malibu Pier on Pacific Coast Highway.
“The mudslide started when the rain started in the beginning of January,” Gushiken said. “Two weeks ago they told me to move out for a night, but recently they haven’t been here. As long as the county is here moving the dirt that comes down, I’ll be OK.”
Further disaster from heavy rains has struck Malibu.
A massive rockslide during the early morning hours of Tuesday forced the closure of Malibu Canyon Road. The road will remain closed for at least two days, officials said.
Two Pepperdine students hit the rockslide just 10 minutes after it happened.
“We had our lights on,” said freshman Bonnie Young. “We weren’t going very fast, and all of a sudden we saw this big shadow and it was right in front of us. It was about 20-feet high and sloped downwards and went across both lanes.”
Denny Harvey, the driver, a freshman at Pepperdine, tried to swerve around the rockslide but hit some rocks and ran into the guardrail. No one was injured in the accident.
“The weird thing is right after the accident happened we saw there was a car on the other side and it shined a light on us,” Young said. “Later that night Denny was watching TV and she told me she saw the accident happen on the news. We were shocked that someone would shoot the accident and leave.”
Also on Tuesday, Caltrans closed Pacific Coast Highway between Topanga Canyon Road and Big Rock Drive. A major mudslide prevented north and southbound traffic from traveling the two-mile section.
Wednesday, a 1,200- ton boulder slipped partway down a Malibu hillside and threatened to fall onto PCH. Efforts to remove the boulder failed.
“Crews had been working to undermine the boulder by forcing it to fall to the ground with a concentrated stream of water from a county fire truck,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos. “The plan was to then break up the boulder.”
Today workers may try to clear away the boulder with controlled explosives, meaning PCH could be closed until the end of the week.
Wednesday evening a new mudslide closed Topanga Canyon Boulevard north of PCH. Prior to the slide, the road was only open to residents due to repairs from January’s storm. Lanes heading both directions are closed to traffic. Topanga Canyon Boulevard is only accessible from the northern portion of the road near Highway 101.
Situations like this may become a familiar scene as Southern Californians continue to deal with the aftermath of what the National Weather Service says is the third-wettest season on record.
So far, 33.45 inches of rain has fallen in the area — and the season isn’t over yet.
Storms have caused more than $52.5 million in damage to roads and facilities in Los Angeles County since the beginning of the year. More than half of the estimate was attributed to road damage alone, according to Donald Wolfe, interim director of the Public Works Department.
The most recent storm, which lasted for six days, resulted in nine deaths, including 16-year-old Caitlin Oto, from Silverado. A boulder slid down and crashed into Oto’s bedroom while she sat at her computer Sunday night.
Monday, city flags were flown at half staff after firefighters recovered the body of a city worker in Sun Valley. Rory Shaw died when he tumbled 30-feet into what would become a sinkhole almost as large as an Olympic-sized pool.
All over Los Angeles, erosion jeopardized many homes as backyards and swimming pools dangled off hillside homes.
Water spouts could be seen off the coast of Santa Monica causing tornado warnings all along the coast. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for most of Tuesday.
North of Los Angeles, the Santa Clara River tore through a private airport in Santa Paula, ripping away 150 feet of the airfield.
Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn, urged President Bush to declare a disaster area.
“With immediate federal action, our residents and businesses will be able to mitigate further damage and the economic impact of this ongoing disaster,” Hahn said.
02-24-2005