Wild videos capture extreme damage from historic California storm
Storm after storm this winter has saturated Southern California. Rescue crews work to keep up with the flash flooding damage and victims.
Watch: Motor home falls into river as flooding eroded embankment
This motor home slipped into the Santa Clara River and washed away. Heavy weekend rains swelled the river which eroded the banks. Thankfully no one was hurt.
Flash flooding, landslides and snow kept rescue crews busy after last week's storms caused catastrophic damage in Southern California.
In Valencia, California, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, an RV park eroded after heavy rains and flash flooding took out not only the river bank but also a road, according to FOX 11.
"We are standing here watching the hillside, and the tree is falling in, and there's dirt still falling," resident Cassie Stephens told FOX 11.
HISTORIC WINTER STORM SLAMS CALIFORNIA WITH LIFE-THREATENING FLOODING, SNOW
Aerial video of flash flooding in Southern California
Air patrols over Ventura County, California, following flooding rainfall in the central part of the state.
The video shows the RV teetering on the edge before going over early Saturday morning.
"We lost three trailers, one car, and they were able to get a lot of trailers out before it happened," resident Shawn Coulter said to FOX 11.
News helicopters circled overhead as the swollen Santa Clara River washed away the RVs and trailers.
Chopper rescue
A helicopter had to pull a man from his stranded car in Ojai, California, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The man waited for rescuers in the dark as the wind tore at the top of his car and swift floodwaters pushed from below.
Watch: Southern California driver rescued from floodwaters
Weekend rains touched off flash flooding in Ventura County, California which is north of Los Angeles. The shallow, but fast-moving floodwaters stranded the car. Fire crews airlifted a rescuer who had to pull the driver out of the car window while hanging from a helicopter in gale-force winds.
A rescue swimmer dropped from a helicopter to the roof of the car. He had to pull the driver from the window before securing him and flying to solid ground.
Watch the two swing wildly in the wind under the chopper. Crews had to brace themselves against the strong winds while waiting for the rescued man to touch down.
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A rescue swimmer hanging from a helicopter pulled a driver out of his car and to safety after floodwaters overcame the vehicle.
(Ventura County Fire / TMX / FOX Weather)
"This is a life-threatening situation," stated the NWS Flash Flood Warning for the area. "Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order."
The storm dropped 2.47 inches of rain in Ojai, according to the NWS. Higher elevations saw much more. The Pine Mountain Inn on the Ventura County coastal range recorded 11.5 inches of rain.
Landslide
Inches of rain saturated hillsides, and one gave way in Los Angeles County Sunday afternoon. At about 4 p.m., neighbors called 911, saying, "The hill in the backyard is moving."
WATCH A LANDSLIDE: BOULDERS TUMBLE DOWN ON A CALIFORNIA FREEWAY
Mudslide damages L.A. County homes after storms
One home suffered major damage when a hillside in Los Angeles County gave way on Sunday. Recent storms saturated the ground which slid into homes.
"There are holes in the wall itself in the back. So, a whole part of the structure was knocked down the roof collapsed. But there's holes in the structure where boulders came down," one neighbor who watched the mudslide told FOX 11. "There's a lot of rock in the mountain up there, and so if that boulder cam down and goes flying through your house, that's terrifying."
Thankfully, fire officials say that no one was hurt. The home at the top lost part of its patio and retaining wall, which slid into the homes below.
Look how high the mud piled up against the home.
(FOX 11)
"There's major damage to the rear of the affected structure," Assistant Chief Pat Sprengel with the Los Angeles County Fire Department told FOX 11. "The portion of the hillside that came down was a very large portion, probably about 40 feet wide, with a large amount of material."
Those homes and nearby neighborhoods were evacuated for safety. Crews inspected the hillside for more potential collapse. The area still has two more storms to get through before a dry few days, according to FOX Weather.
The Pasadena Fire Department responded to a mudslide where they found that mud had knocked down the back wall of an attached garage and was pressing through the front garage doors.
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Floodwater rescue
Southern California rescues after latest storm
The Pasadena Fire Department came to the rescue and airlifted a hiker out of a park after he was trapped by rising floodwaters Saturday. A different crew responded to an emergency call and found that a mudslide took out the back of a garage and was still oozing out the front. Plows had to clear snow off roads in Palmdale, California. The average high, this time of year is in the low 60s.
Floodwaters rose so quickly that they trapped a hiker. The Pasadena Fire Department pulled the hiker out of the wilderness via helicopter.
And Palmdale in L.A. County, usually in the low 60s this time of year, had to call in snow plows.