We begin with Kai. He's here in the KTLA Weather
Center with what we can expect and how to prepare
Kai.
Well, thanks very much, Corrine,
Rick, good evening everybody here On your Saturday night,
the 10:00 hour rain on the lens,
the atmospheric river event beginning to make its move on
to Southern California.
And as you can see,
the entire state of California,
we've got heavy rain now making its way through San
Francisco to the north of us.
And as we take a closer look at here in
Southern California,
well look at the LA basin right now through Inglewood,
El Segundo, all the way up now towards downtown Los
Angeles.
We're seeing a great deal of this heavier rainfall now
beginning to move in a northeasterly direction,
slowly creeping towards the San Gabriel Valley over the next
15 to 20 minutes.
So this is what we will continue to see over
the next couple days,
taking us until at least Tuesday night.
Snow starting to fall throughout the Grapevine.
You can see the Tejon Pass,
Fraser Park. The Pine Mountain Club community is starting to
pick up that snow because the air becoming colder by
the minute.
And we've got snowfall continuing to make its way up
the Angeles Crest Highway into Wrightwood.
Some light snow showers for the time being as we
take a look east in towards the Big Bear area.
Winds beginning to pick up throughout that Grapevine community,
and as we take a look through the next 24
hours,
we'll look at the mountains we by the time we
make our way into tomorrow afternoon,
tomorrow Sunday night, starting to see gusts coming to the
southwest and southeasterly direction up to 55 and
60 mph. So we'll see highwind warnings and wind advisories
taking us at least until Monday morning.
Flood watches sticking throughout all of Southern California until we
get to Tuesday afternoon through the 4:00 hours and once
again winter storm warnings through Tuesday evening.
We've also looking at high surf advisories,
coastal flood advisories as well as marine statements which means
we could see water spouts,
thunderstorms along the coastal sections.
Obviously a lot going on here in Southern California.
I'll be back in a few minutes.
We'll give you a great deal of more detail about
this atmospheric river event and much more Rickering back to
you.
I will look forward to it.
Of course, big storm that mean residents along the coastline
are preparing for some flooding as this big one approaches.
Now the National Weather Service has issued more than a
dozen weather watches and warnings all across Southern California.
And they've put a coastal flood advisory in place across
LA County to alert residents about dangerously high water expected
from all that rain.
Yeah, let's go right to Chris Wolf.
He's live in Long Beach,
where residents have been filling up the sandbags and just
bracing now for this weather to get here.
Chris
Yeah, that's right. Rick and Corrine,
very cold with just light rain here in Long Beach
tonight.
Behind me is a sandbag distribution center,
one of several across the city.
And yes, people have been coming here continually all day
and all night to fill up with those sandbags.
City officials say Long Beach is especially vulnerable with storms
like this because it has seven miles of coastline.
And it's also the southernmost point for not one but
two rivers that spill out into the ocean here,
the LA River and the San Gabriel River.
Imagine being trapped in an elevator with water rising up
to your waist.
The terror was real for a woman in Long Beach
recently and the city is now preparing for another storm
about to blast Southern California.
With strong wind, heavy rain and potentially life threatening flooding,
especially in coastal areas,
Long Beach residents are heeding the public safety warnings to
fortify their properties and formulate escape or evacuation plans.
People have been stocking up on sandbags at a number
of locations around the city.
If it decides to stall in one place,
you know that it's really going to flood instead of
just passing through.
So we'll see. It's going to be a downpour and
a dumping.
It really is. I mean,
I love the rain, but
you never know what nature's going to bring us.
If it gets really gnarly,
really bad. Do you have an escape plan
as of as of now?
I mean, I guess it's just going to the second
story of the house and hopefully someone can come save
us,
get the canoes or kayaks ready.
City officials held a news conference Saturday outlining storm preparations,
which include ensuring proper emergency staffing that catch basins are
clear of debris,
obtaining more high capacity pumps for the hardest hit areas
and building sand berms along the beach to help protect
against high surf.
We have homeless outreach folks doing their outreach to our
most vulnerable communities.
We we've staffed up with swift water rescue teams.
We are ready and the professionals are ready to respond.
But we meet the residents,
do their parts. If you know that you live in
historically vulnerable areas that are prone to flooding,
and even if you experience water intrusion,
the last storm we had,
you need to have a plan.
Where is that safe meeting place?
Where are we going to go if we need to
evacuate?
This damaging flooding will be a threat to lives and
property.
The National Weather Service is warning of the potential for
mud and debris flows,
landslides, rock slides, downed trees and power lines,
leading to power outages. Some people in Manhattan Beach are
planning to leave the area until the storm has passed.
I hope that people are ready because I mean,
again, we've been given given ample notice.
It's going to be a lot of rain all at
once.
It's like the ocean over here.
This is Pacific Coast Highway.
People in Seal Beach are well aware and on high
alert that community is no stranger to flooding.
But drive careful everyone. It is dangerous out there.
Yeah, for sure. But better yet,
don't drive at all. Stay home during this storm unless
you have to evacuate.
Reporting live in Long Beach.
Chris Wolf, KTLA 5 News.
All right, Wolfie, we thank you.
As people in Ventura County,
brace for the coming rain.
Officials have issued some evacuation orders in unincorporated Ojai ahead
of the possible flooding.
And it covers Matalia Canyon,
Norfolk, Camino, Ciela areas as well.
A shelter if you have to get out.
A shelter is going to open tomorrow morning at 9:00.
That'll be a Ventura College gym.
That's over on Telegraph Rd.
And evacuation warnings are also in place for the Ventura
RV Resort that's in the city of Ventura,
the community of Foster Park.
That's in an unincorporated Ventura,
an area of Old Creek Rd.
In unincorporated Ojai being threatened as well.
Another evacuation warning is in effect for four structures in
an unincorporated Camarillo that's in the area of Grata and
Trueno avenues.
Officials are also encouraging people to remain vigilant over the
next few days and remain prepared to evacuate if you
have to.
If the conditions start to worsen,
Sarah Welch is going to have more on the situation
right there in Ventura County.
That'll be coming up in a live report for us
at 10:30
LA County Public Works crews.
They're also busy installing K rails and removing trash from
street gutters to prevent possible mud flows,
especially in places like the San Gabriel Valley.
A phase three mud flow alert was announced today for
the fish fire burn area in Duarte.
That's where moderate to heavy rain is expected.
The mud flow alert will begin tomorrow evening at 6:00,
and it'll last until Tuesday morning.