Heavy Storms Rip Deserts; Roads Cut Off, Town Flooded

Heavy, wind-swept thunderstorms that blocked the Los Angeles Aqueduct near Olancha hammered California deserts for the second straight night on Wednesday, flooding the Imperial County town of Winterhaven and cutting several major highways across the state.

The storms prompted flash-flood warnings Wednesday along a 200-mile front from the Mexican border to the Sierra Nevada.

Torrents of water up to two feet deep poured into homes in Winterhaven, a Colorado River town about five miles northeast of Yuma, Ariz., and water up to three feet deep closed Interstate 8--the main route east from San Diego.

Across the river, in Yuma, officials said much of the city was awash, although the flooding was shallower. “Most of our roads are gone,” said Yuma County sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Kretchmer. “Lots of homes have water in them and we have poles and wires down.”

Strong downpours were reported Wednesday night throughout eastern San Diego, Imperial, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, especially in locations below the eastern slope of the coastal mountain ranges--places like Barstow, Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Thermal. Minor flooding was reported in Palm Springs about 10 p.m. Wednesday.

More than two-thirds of an inch of rain fell near Santa Ysabel, in eastern San Diego County, in less than half an hour Wednesday afternoon. Powerful cloudbursts were also reported Wednesday night in the Mojave Desert near Baker and Twentynine Palms, in the Owens Valley near Olancha and in Mono County near Benton, about 30 miles north of Bishop.

Forecasters warned Wednesday afternoon that flooding could cut Interstate 10 near Blythe and Interstate 40 near Needles--two of the principal thoroughfares to the east--during the night. California 6 and California 120 were closed by floodwaters Wednesday night south and west of Benton, and debris blocked California 168 near Deep Springs, about 30 miles northeast of Lone Pine.

To the east, more storms spawned by the same, subtropical weather system washed across southern Nevada and western Arizona on Wednesday. Dust storms generated by the storm system cut visibility to less than half a mile in the Phoenix area, and Arizona 95 was reported “barely passable” because of recurrent downpours and flash-flooding in western Nevada’s Esmeralda County.

On Tuesday night, severe thunderstorms swept through the Las Vegas area bringing winds gusting up to 99 m.p.h. and causing damage estimated at $14 million.

Expected to Continue

Meteorologists said the storms, generated by a large, high-pressure system that has been pumping moist, subtropical air into the Southwest from Mexico, were expected to continue today, with more threats of flash-flooding over large areas of California, Arizona and Nevada.

Utility crews were working around the clock near Olancha in Inyo County in an effort to remove an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of mud, rock and sand that were dumped into a two-mile stretch of the Los Angeles Aqueduct during an intense thunderstorm Tuesday evening.

Officials said the tide of flood debris from the eastern slope of the Sierra raced down Olancha Creek and poured into the aqueduct, which carries about 75% of Los Angeles’ water supply.

The debris quickly filled the open, concrete-lined ditch, causing the water flowing down the aqueduct channel at about 4,500 gallons per second to spill over onto U.S. 395. The overflow flooded the highway with several feet of water, cutting off all traffic on the main route between Southern California and the resort country of the eastern Sierra for several hours.

The utility crews had to open several spillways that empty into Owens Lake to drain the upstream reach of the aqueduct before the cleanup of the 31-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep channel could begin.

Although the aqueduct cleanup is expected to take another seven to 10 days, the city of Los Angeles will continue to receive an adequate supply of water from reservoirs and through purchases from the Metropolitan Water District, which draws on other sources, including the Colorado River, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Wednesday night.

Dennis Williams, a DWP engineer, said that returning the aqueduct to service could take even longer if crews removing the debris find that the concrete lining has sustained heavy damage.

More thunderstorms were reported in the area Wednesday night. While little additional debris was drifting into the channel, crews said the heavy weather was slowing the cleanup effort.